


Living to the Fullest

by JoyVampire



Series: Total Drama vs Dangan Ronpa [2]
Category: Dangan Ronpa, Dangan Ronpa 3: The End of 希望ヶ峰学園 | The End of Kibougamine Gakuen | End of Hope's Peak High School, Super Dangan Ronpa 2, Total Drama, Total Drama Presents: The Ridonculous Race
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anime References, Bad Writing, Dangan Ronpa 3 Spoilers, Fluff, Multi, School Festivals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-28
Updated: 2018-04-18
Packaged: 2018-12-08 01:37:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 37
Words: 64,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11636247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoyVampire/pseuds/JoyVampire
Summary: PREVIOUS TITLE: High School Life of HopeTotal Drama Academy has officially ended, the teens are ready for sophomore year, and the school is (near enough) rebuilt…but regardless of the circumstances, the group are prepared to finally have a normal school life. New students, new clubs, and five new teachers. Not to mention the other people who also show up all over the place.What lies in store for the students? A school festival, their first Hope’s Peak style examination, and an unsolved case from Kyoko’s life in Japan…or at least, unsolved for the Canadian students.





	1. The Afterparty

**Author's Note:**

> Now with characters from the Ridonculous Race and The End of Hope’s Peak Academy, so expect spoilers.  
> The setting for this instalment is 2015-2016. As you all know, 2016 was a shit year, and there will definitely be references to some of the deaths of celebrities from that year (from January to July at least), so be prepared to relive the trauma.
> 
> EDIT 25/3/18: changed Tomoko's talent back to SHSL Intern. I realised it came out of nowhere, and needed to decide on a title for Ezekiel on the off chance I mentioned it.

The date was August 25th 2015, a couple of days after the first series of the Ridonculous Race ended. All 18 teams, the host Don and the intern Tomoko were staying in a New York hotel not far from Central Park. It was 90°F, so everyone was making the most of the sunny weather by the hotel pool. The newly back together Daters team had gone back to their old ways and were making out in the jacuzzi, oblivious to the fact that the LARPers were a few feet away from them. Don, the Tennis Rivals, Geniuses, Vegans and Goths were sat on loungers overlooking the kids pool (with the Goths and Geniuses in the shade), which the Adversity Twins were sat on the edge of. Kelly, Taylor and the Fashion Bloggers lay on the grass further away from the pool sunbathing. The Stepbrothers, Rockers, Dwayne and Junior were in the diving pool having an intense water fight, irritating the Ice Dancers who were waiting on top of the diving platforms for them to move out of the way.

Five teams, however, were still indoors – the Reality TV Pros, Sisters, Best Friends, Surfers and Police Cadets. MacArthur, Kitty, Geoff and Brody were doing endless cannonballs, Carrie, Noah and Emma went down the waterslide a few times, while Sanders and Devin sat on the poolside due to Sanders’ cast and the bandages still on Devin’s head. Owen was outside and headed towards the line for the snack bar, passing by Tomoko, who was sat alone at a table.

With no one around her to talk to, she looked through some of the photos she’d managed to get during the testing of each challenges. Most of them got deleted, since they were blurry – she wasn’t that far ahead of the contestants, so was on the clock when testing everything. Still, there were some good ones that could be put into her photobook (it was a tradition when she did something she’d never done before, especially in a different country, that a photo went into her album the moment she went back).

She then felt her phone vibrate in her hand, smiling at the caller ID.

“Hey Ian!”

_“Hi! How was the Race?”_

“It was so much fun, and far less dangerous than Total Drama…although we did lose one other intern…” Tomoko gulped at the memory of Andrew falling off the zipline from the CN Tower to the airport. “There’s always at least one.”

_“Oh…anyway, that’s good to hear! I mean, that you had a good time, not the intern--”_

“It’s cool, I get it. How was Los Angeles?”

_“Awesome! I finally got to do all the stuff I wanted to do, without anyone bossing me around. Even though I lived there previously.”_

“That’s cool to hear! You didn’t run into her, did you?”

_“Nope. Los Angeles is a big place, you know. Anyway, on one of the days it was 96 degrees! How hot is it where you are?”_

“Right now, it’s 90, but keep in mind we went to Brazil, Indonesia, Zimbabwe and India, so that’s by no means the hottest.”

**_SPLASH!_ **

_“What the heck was that?”_

“I think Josee and Jacques finally got tired of waiting for the Stepbrothers to move. Either that or Owen fell into the pool.”

_“Who are Josee and Jacques?”_

“The Ice Dancers team. You may have seen them get silver in the last Winter Olympics.”

 “Hey, Tomoko!” Owen walked back past the intern’s table, shovelling down an ice cream. “You wanna come inside for a bit? Join in the fun!”

“Okay, I’ll be in there in a couple of minutes.” She finished her conversation with her “brother”, stashed her phone into a locker and followed Owen to the indoor pool, where the other nine were waiting. On the way in, they passed by the Father & Son, Stepbrothers, Rockers and Ice Dancers, dragging themselves out of the pool all glaring at one another.

…

“Hey Tomoko!” Kitty waved from the poolside as she and Owen went through the door. “You okay?”

“I’m good. And have you considered the offer about Hope’s Peak?” At some point during the finale, Tomoko had asked a few people about whether they were interested in joining the school.

“I had a word with mom, and she said I could go! It’s not too far away from where we live. Brody, Carrie, Devin, Sanders and MacArthur can all go too!”

“That’s awesome! It’s way more fun than normal schools – you guys will love it.”

“Even though it was the set for a reality show last year.”

“Stop complaining, I loved watching the show! Good job, by the way,” Brody said. Surprisingly, Brody had been the only one in that group (excluding the ones _on_ the show) who saw any of it. The only others were the Father  & Son team, and Tammy. When Tomoko started asking the others whether they’d be interested in joining, Brody had been the first to say yes; Tammy was asked too, but turned it down.

“We don’t need to keep talking about school,” Kitty leaned over the pool’s edge even further and grabbed Tomoko’s ankle. “Let’s have some fun!” She tugged on it a few times, but she was still stood in place.

“Nice try Kitty, but I’m a lot stronger than I-- uwah!” Next thing she knew, she’d landed face first in the pool. From underwater, she noticed MacArthur’s spotted bikini bottoms beside Kitty. So it was her…

“Hah! What was that you were just saying?” The cadet laughed as Tomoko resurfaced and took in a breath. Devin and Sanders were now dripping a little – probably got splashed as she got pulled in. “Who’s the strongest now?”

“Oh, you’re dead.” Tomoko pushed a large amount of water in her direction, but MacArthur ended up ducking, so Geoff got wet instead.

“Water fight!” Within seconds, the five teens in the pool began flicking water at each other. Emma, Carrie and Owen soon joined in, and even Sanders jumped in for a little. The group received some weird looks from a couple of other players who happened to come inside, but they honestly couldn’t care less.

 

* * *

 

In the meantime, a minibus pulled up outside the new Hope’s Peak Academy, with three people inside. Stood outside the gate were three other people: Chris McLean, Byakuya Togami and Makoto Naegi. Byakuya now stood in a black suit with a dark green tie, and Chris was in his usual clothing. Makoto, however, looked completely different, now in a black suit and a long sleeved white shirt. On top was a navy blue waistcoat and a yellow-green tie.

The other three people stepped out of the car…or rather, two stepped out and the other rolled out. The first was a man with blonde hair and a goatee, with a white fedora on top. He wore a black suit and a dark blue tie, and carried a small hip flask full of bourbon whiskey. The second was a woman in a pale blue jacket and skirt, with orange hair in a ponytail. The third one was a blue haired woman in a wheelchair, dressed in a black suit with a pale brown coat over the top, along with a red scarf. On the front of her wheelchair was a monitor with a half pink-half white bunny AI on it.

These three were the new homeroom teachers for Hope’s Peak: Koichi Kizakura, Chisa Yukizome and Miaya Gekkogahara.

“Welcome back, you three,” Makoto, being the new headmaster of the school, greeted the three of them, while Chef Hatchet unloaded their bags from the bus. “It’s good to see you again.”

“You really haven’t changed a bit, have you Naegi-kun?” Chisa smiled back at him. Makoto just nervously laughed and scratched the back of his neck.

“He really hasn’t,” Byakuya chipped in, before Chisa turned to Chris. “And you’re this Chris McLean that I’ve been hearing about?”

“That’s right, Ms. Yukizome!” As Chris extended a hand, Chef rolled his eyes, heavily nauseated at Chris’ formality. “I’m the previous headmaster of this school.” Koichi then reached over for his hand, burping in the meantime.

“Anyway, I have your class assignments,” Makoto handed each of the three of them an envelope, and Chisa’s face lit up when she saw who she had.

“Nanami-san, Tsumiki-san and Mioda-san! And that’s not even everyone from my old class! How many do you have, Kizakura-san?”

“Two. Sonia-chan and Hanamura-kun,” Koichi adjusted his fedora. “This should be quite interesting.”

Miaya (or rather, Usami), however, looked more confused. “I don’t think I recognise anyone in this class.”

“We have a reason for giving you Class 4, Gekkogahara-san, and you’ll see why on the first day.”

“Huh?” Chisa looked over her sheet once more. “One of my students doesn’t have any title under her photo.” The two graduates leaned over to see for themselves, and sure enough, Tomoko’s new title hadn’t been written in yet.

“I knew we forgot something. We should probably still let her know about her new talent.”

“Isn’t she in New York right now?”

 

* * *

 

Once the water fight had finished, the eleven decided to go on a few runs down the slide. It was fun to do, and made for some good photos, so after ten or eleven runs, Tomoko’s camera memory was near enough full, the reel full of forward trains, backward trains, and a couple of them on their stomachs…

Then she had a great idea.

…

It didn’t take awfully long to rally everyone by the diving pool, still quite wet from the previous collision. In order from left to right: stood by the pool’s edge were Taylor, Kelly, Gerry, Pete, Crimson, Ennui, Don, Noah, Owen, Ryan (with Stephanie sat on his shoulder), Jacques and Josee; sat on the edge were Leonard, Tammy, Mickey, Jay, Laurie, Miles, Mary, Ellody, Carrie, Devin, Tom and Jen; and in the pool were Lorenzo, Chet, Spud, Rock, Geoff, Brody, MacArthur, Sanders, Kitty, Emma, Junior and Dwayne.

Tomoko was stood at the complete opposite end of the pool so she could manage to get the photo, which meant she could see absolutely everything going on. Geoff had his hat on as per the usual, and his partner had an arm round MacArthur. Junior was looking up at Carrie every so often, who didn’t seem to notice it. Loki was in his normal position on Ennui’s shoulder, and Tomoko swore the bunny was giving the Ice Dancers the evils. Speaking of which…

“Josee, could you at least _try_ to look happy?” Clearly, she was still mad about losing to the Surfers and the Cadets. It was a good job Tomoko hadn’t asked the winners to have the million in the photo, otherwise the Ice Dancers would be long gone with it. But you’d have thought they’d smile for _just one_ photo...at least Jacques was trying.

The yelling was surprisingly all it took for Josee to start smiling.

“You sure you don’t wanna be in it?” Geoff called back from the other side.

“Yeah, come on!” Kitty joined in.

“It’s fine,” Tomoko replied. “I’m just the intern, so it’s no big deal. Okay, and…”

*CLICK*

“Done!” Josee’s smile instantly faded.


	2. Beautiful Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kyoko asks a favour of Tomoko, and the new students receive their uniforms

The next day, most of the teams had returned back home. Only the Best Friends, Surfers, Sisters, Cadets, Ice Dancers and Pros were left behind. Most of them were still there because of wanting to travel to orientation together.

As the last taxi pulled up ready to go to the airport, the Ice Dancers came out of the hotel carrying their bags. What Tomoko noticed, however, was Josee narrowing her eyes in her direction while her partner put their bags in the trunk. The intern was confused for a moment, until she turned around and saw the Police Cadets walking down the street behind her, who didn’t seem to notice the Ice Dancers leaving. After turning back round, the taxi had already pulled off the curb and started down the road.

Her phone vibrated in her pocket again, and this time the caller ID read Kyoko Kirigiri. _Hold on, since when do I have Kirigiri-san’s number?_ Regardless, she answered. “Hello, Kirigiri-san? Why do you have my number?”

_“I asked for it from Chris. How has the Race been?”_

“Uh, it’s been pretty fun, I guess. But I highly doubt you phoned me just to ask about the Race.” The Cadets and Sisters appeared directly behind her, but Tomoko gave them a signal telling them to wait.

“ _Very perceptive of you_ ,” it was hard to tell whether or not Kyoko was being sarcastic. _“You’re in New York City at the moment, aren’t you?”_

“Yes.”

_“There were some books I found from a library in New York, to help me with some detective work. I want you to go in there and collect them for me if possible. Also, it might seem a little forward, but could you please pay for them? I’ll return the money when you get back.”_

“Okay, what are they called?”

_“Just ask the librarian for books entitled_ Manga for Morons. _I’ll see you in a couple of days, and thank you again.”_ She hung up, leaving Tomoko to ponder what she’d heard. A woman like Kyoko Kirigiri, the SHSL Detective, wanting books called _Manga for Morons_ , above everything else. Even if they were for her work.

“Who was that?” Emma asked.

“My old classmate, Kiri...Kyoko. Her name is Kyoko. She was the former SHSL Detective, and is starting as a teacher this year.”

“What did she want?”

“She found some books in a library around here, and wanted me to pick them up for her. Do the four of you want to come with me?”

“Sorry, we need to pack. Since Kitty’s going to Hope’s Peak, it’ll make things easier if I leave early and take all our stuff home.”

“I’ll see you later today, okay?” Kitty waved as she and her sister went back into the hotel. Tomoko looked over to the Police Cadets.

“What about you two?”

“Sure, why not?” Sanders said. “If it’s from the SHSL Detective, I guess we could help too.”

…

Surprisingly, despite the vast number of libraries in New York City, they’d found the place they were looking for on the second try. Maybe being in a class with both Makoto and Nagito had made some of their luck rub off on Tomoko. On first glance, it didn’t look like there was anything, until she remembered Kyoko telling her to ask the librarian. Sure enough, at the front desk was a woman with two large twintails, in an outfit that almost reminded her of that Hatsune Miku Vocaloid character.

“Excuse me,” the woman looked up, and on closer inspection, only looked to be a couple of years older than her. “Do you have any books in the… _Manga for Morons_ series?”

“Actually, we do.” She reached under the desk and pulled out a box of old and battered books. “Somebody handed them in a while ago, but we couldn’t put them in stock since they were deemed “inappropriate”. If you’re interested in them, $3 each.”

Tomoko took a couple out, and read the titles: A History of Hope’s Peak Academy, The Tragedy of Hope’s Peak Academy, and two others with stickers covering the titles. Kyoko hadn’t said exactly how many she wanted, so just decided to get all four of them. Asking for a plastic carrier bag to keep them in and handing the money over, she thanked the woman and left, re-joining Sanders and MacArthur waiting outside, who now had hotdogs.

“Where’d you get those from?”

“We ran into the hotdog car from a few days ago. He gave us these for free!” MacArthur downed the whole thing, while Sanders offered Tomoko a third one. She accepted it, trying to imagine any kind of scenario why Kyoko would even need these books.

 

* * *

 

There was a second old building that hadn’t had as much focus on the campus, which was due to be converted into a clubhouse, where students could run some extracurriculars. None of the rooms had been decorated yet, since there weren’t any confirmed clubs from any students. However, the room on the very top floor was the only one that was even slightly changed. In the middle was a medium-sized table, and on the side of the room was a bookshelf; so far, it had a small photo album and a few folders full of Japanese written sheets.

The only person in the room was Kyoko, who was drinking a cup of coffee and staring down at a photo from the old Hope’s Peak. It was of her and her fifteen old classmates. To anyone else, nothing would look odd about it, but being the SHSL Detective, she knew to read between the lines.

She’d made this top room into her personal office, which she would use for any further detective investigations, including assisting her grandfather (who had survived the Tragedy, according to Komaru and Toko). There was one case, though, that took priority over everything else. One with which she would need help from someone with zero knowledge of the events. Now she’d asked for the next resources she wanted, all she could do was hope that she made the right helper choice.

“Hopefully Fukuhara-san shouldn’t let me down.”

 

* * *

 

By the time 5pm came around that day, the Reality TV Pros heard a knock on their door. Noah got off the bed and paused the TV before opening it. On the other side was Tomoko, who had ten clothing protector bags in her arms, each one with brown clothing inside.

“Uniform delivery,” another change that had been made was that there was now a uniform for the students. However, like previously, students could make any kind of customisations to it. Tomoko came into the boys’ room and dropped two uniforms onto the bed: a very large one, and a normal sized one. Before that, Carrie and Devin both had normal ones, Geoff and Brody were already discussing ways to make it look different, and Tomoko had moved on before she could hear the boys’ reactions.

Kitty’s uniform choice was highly confusing to Tomoko after she opened it – it had the same brown jacket and skirt, but instead of any blouses, there was a white sailor fuku top and red neckerchief. Normally, it wouldn’t be that bad, but she’d never seen anyone combine _both_ kinds of school uniform. And Kitty could see the confused look on both her and Emma’s faces.

“What? Isn’t this a normal Japanese school uniform?”

“Yes, but not really with the Western uniform mixed in with it.”

“You said we were allowed to customise them, right?”

“Well, yeah, but…never mind.”

While Kitty wanted two kinds of uniform, MacArthur next door was the opposite. It had taken a lot of convincing Chris to swap MacArthur’s skirt to a pair of trousers, but even more so to get MacArthur to HAVE a uniform. Sanders was okay with it, however.

“Do we even _have_ to wear these?”

“From what everyone told me last year, they all had the proper uniform, but not everyone wore it. Hell, someone wore the same outfit they always do!”

“So I have to have it in my closet, but don’t have to wear it all the time?”

“Only for certain occasions, like the final graduation, and the off-chance the students have to attend a funeral.”

“What a waste of space.”

Well, that was the new students sorted. Now all that was left was to actually start sophomore year. And with any luck, it would be (somewhat) normal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a weak chapter in my opinion. Anyway, I have the next couple written up already, and the next one should be posted next weekend.


	3. I'm Home ~Hope's Peak Academy~

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The second orientation day. Tomoko returns to her family and classmates, and we see the new Hope's Peak.

Another two days later, Tomoko and the nine new students were on a blue bus driven by Chef (once again), headed towards Hope’s Peak. There were three other people sat at the back of the bus, but none of them paid them any mind to them. As Kitty noticed they’d crossed into the town, she pulled out her phone and began snapping photos of absolutely anything she could. Sanders was interested in the beach that was in the distance, as were the Surfers, while Carrie was looking at the new houses.

“Have those always been there?”

“Nope. Those must have been built while we were away.”

“Weren’t they only going to rebuild the school and not do anything else for now?”

“Well, that’s what Chris said.”

“Uh, Chef,” Noah then asked him. “Are you sure this is the right place?”

“Yeah. Hard to believe, right?” Everyone else started looking down the centre of the bus to see what triggered this reaction.

…

…

“Wow.”

When they saw the building from the bus, it was already a major contrast to the rest of the town that they’d seen on the journey, not to mention a lot taller than it had been previously. It was close to what the newcomers had expected of the school, but for the four (five) others…they had to pinch one another to make sure it was the real deal. After they’d got off the bus and were stood in front of the gates (!) to the newly rebuilt Hope’s Peak Academy, the impact was even stronger. From what Tomoko remembered from old images of the last school, it was pretty similar, but not exactly the same.

“This is amazing!”

“Dude…this place is epic!”

“Yeah, I think we have the wrong place.”

“How could they produce _this_ in only TWO MONTHS?”

“Beats me.”

Devin tapped Tomoko on the shoulder. “Is that a person climbing up the building?” He pointed to a fast moving white and brown blur.

“Oh, don’t worry. That’s probably just Akane. We should probably start looking around now, so there’s less to worry about for tomorrow.” Tomoko led the way inside, followed by Owen and Noah, while the others brought up the rear.

 

* * *

 

Waiting at the front of the entrance hall was Chris, who was stood behind a table which had six tote bags on it, identical to the ones from the last orientation day, which were meant for the former Ridonculous Race contestants.

“Welcome back, you guys! And before you say anything, yes this is the right place.”

Each of the six took the tote bag with their name on it, while the host turned to the other four. “So tell me, was Don a better host than me?”

“Yes.” The answer was so immediate and direct – even for Noah – that Chris was taken aback. “Not to mention the conditions were far better, there were only two overly serious injuries--”

“Alright. Thank you. _Noah_. Anyway, Tomoko…”

“Sorry Chris, but I have to agree. But if you do another series of Total Drama before I get too old, I’ll be back for it.” Geoff and Brody went ahead in the meantime. “Speaking of which, what’s my new talent?”

“Oh yeah, that. Sorry, but in the end we left you with the old one.”

 

**TOMOKO FUKUHARA - SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL INTERN**

“But why?”

“Don't get me wrong, we _were_ considering SHSL Polyglot, but Ezekiel surprisingly beat you to that one. You might be good with languages too, but he knows eight.”

Tomoko sighed. "You know what, I'm fine with that title now. I’ll take it.” With that said, the remaining teens started looking through the school, trying to ignore the stink-eye that Chris was giving Noah.

 

* * *

 

There weren’t an awful lot of remarkable areas on the way to the cafeteria, mainly because most of them were locked – toilets, the infirmary, a school store, two classrooms, even a small gymnasium within the main building. At the far end of the first floor was the cafeteria, where not many people were gathered and talking with each other. The walls were a pastel yellow, while the floor was tiled red. In the middle was a large table with sixteen chairs around it, while around the rest of the cafeteria were small round tables with four seats round each one. An electronic board on the wall had a message displayed in pink at the moment saying “Welcome back to Hope’s Peak Academy!”. After a few moments, some students noticed the new arrivals.

“TOMOKO-CHAN!!” Ibuki practically threw herself on top of her new best friend and desk neighbour. “Ibuki was so lonely this summer!”

“It’s great to see you too, Mioda-san.”

“You can use my first name, you know,” she then noticed the others stood behind her. “Are you all gonna be Ibuki’s classmates?”

“Oh, Fukuhara-kun, you’re back!” Kiyotaka came over to his new, previously unexpected friend. “How was your summer?”

“Loads of fun! Those six over there were contestants on the Race, the ones being crushed to death by Mioda…uh, Ibuki.” Kitty, Brody and Carrie seemed okay being hugged by this person, Devin and Sanders were slightly uncomfortable, and MacArthur looked like she wanted to kill. “You still remember Brody, but the others are Carrie, Devin, Kitty, MacArthur and Sanders.” When Kitty saw she was pointing at them, she waved at the pair. “What about you guys?”

“We spent the summer around here helping everyone to rebuild the school. Other than that, I didn’t do an awful lot else, but it was still enjoyable.”

“Sorry Kiyotaka-chan,” Ibuki appeared out of nowhere and grabbed on Tomoko’s arm, “but Ibuki has important matters to attend to with Tomoko-chan.” She pulled her out of the cafeteria before Kiyotaka could even respond, and the two began running towards the stairs up to the next floor once they were out of his line of sight.

“What’s so important to talk about it meant that we had to leave the others?”

“Nothing, I just wanted to show you around the rest of the school. But Ibuki _did_ decide to start a new light music club, and she was wondering if you wanted to be a part of it.”

“Well, okay. That actually sounds pretty cool.”

“Yes! Ibuki won’t be alone! Now let’s check out the rest of the school!”

 

* * *

 

Same as before, most of the doors were locked to the second floor. Same as last time, there were two classrooms, as well as an AV room, a music room, and a large library, the only one that was unlocked. Toko was looking at some of the manga comics, surprisingly, while Sammy was searching for some of the literature that Toko had written. It’s worth adding that Sammy’s new title was the SHSL Cheerleader, with Amy being gone.

“The Bomb Inside Her? M-maybe I should borrow this for Komaru.”

“Hey Toko!”

“W-w-what do you want?”

“I just wanted to say that I’m a huge fan of _Blue Thread From the Scarred Mountain_! It’s my favourite book!”

She didn’t reply, so Sammy kept on going. “Are you writing anything else new?”

“It’s n-not important to you.” Toko turned away from her, as Ibuki whispered to Tomoko. “Things just got majorly awkward.”

…

On the next floor up was two more classrooms, a home economics room, an art room, and this time the unlocked room was the rec room. Ian and ~~Ethan~~ Shinjiro were both in there looking through the magazines, perking up when they saw Tomoko get dragged in.

“Look who’s back from their trip around the world,” Shinjiro pushed his glasses up his face, and light once again reflected off the lenses.

“Is that going to become a regular thing from now on? And it’s good to see you two as well.”

“Before I forget, I got you and Leon gifts from Los Angeles. Shinjiro already has his.” Ian reached into a plastic bag in his hand and pulled out a Hollywood tote bag and a Los Angeles themed baseball (most likely for Leon). “I had no idea what kind of things you’d like.”

“No, I like it. Thanks.”

“Did Ibuki miss something? Shinjiro?” Ibuki cocked her head to the side. “Who’s that?”

“It’s his real name. He was just using Ethan last year because he was nervous.”

“I wasn’t nervous! I just thought it would be confusing if I went back to using my original name.”

“The conversation we had two months ago begs to differ.” Surprisingly, Ian grinned and retorted. Tomoko couldn’t help smiling at this – not the confidence she thought, but it was still something.

At that point, the bell sounded, followed by an announcement from Makoto. “Could all students make their way to the main gymnasium within the next ten minutes.”

“AAAAHHH! We’re gonna be late!” Ibuki began pulling her back down the stairs, while the boys just watched. Meanwhile, Ibuki began rushing the explanation of the rest of the rooms in the main building. “On the fourth floor is all the rooms for the teachers – Makoto-chan’s office, the counsellor’s office and the faculty room. The top floor has a large science lab and a dojo.”

There was a doorway on the bottom floor that Tomoko had missed before, which led to a sheltered pathway that was connected to a rather large yellow-ish building. Opening the doors, the scent of chlorine could be faintly detected. There was a blue door and a pink door directly in front of them that led to two separate locker rooms, as well as two larger doors further down the hallway: the left door led to an indoor pool, and the right door led to the gymnasium. About half the group were already sat in the rows of seats, Kitty being one of them. Ibuki ran over to her, taking a seat between her and Tomoko. Behind them was Kiyotaka, Mondo and Chihiro. The seating was on either side of the gymnasium, with a stage at the end, where Makoto would no doubt be in a few moments.

Kiyotaka tapped Tomoko over the shoulder. “I never got the chance to ask you, what’s your new talent?”

“There isn't one. I'm still SHSL Intern.”

“What?!” Shinjiro threw his hand onto her shoulder, sliding into the seat beside her, followed by Ian, then Leon, and then Sayaka on the end. “You really should have been SHSL Intern! You know four languages and home-teaching yourself a fifth!”

“Alright, no need to boast. Besides, Ezekiel knows eight.” Tomoko just rolled her eyes, before noticing Sayaka’s unusually sad expression, behind Leon tossing his new baseball a couple of times. “What’s up with you, Maizono-san?”

“I just miss Tess already.” At the end of last year, she’d had to leave the school in order to continue with her work as a “YouTube Sensation”. It had hit Sayaka quite hard since they’d developed a pretty close friendship.

“Didn’t she get in touch with you in the summer?”

“Well, yeah. Just twice at the beginning, but we kind of stopped after two weeks.”

“Knowing her she’ll probably be busy with work,” Ian said. “Just try messaging her again after today.”

“Okay, I’ll do that.” She noticed everyone turn towards the stage as Makoto walked out and stood behind a lectern that matched with the rest of the gymnasium. Five other people were behind him. He tapped the microphone a couple of times before addressing the group of people.

“Good morning, everyone.”

There was a very messy response in both English and Japanese, with the former Hope’s Peak students being the first ones to do so.

“Welcome back to the new Hope’s Peak Academy. For those of you who don’t know me already, my name is Makoto Naegi, and I’m the headmaster of the school. I used to be a student at the original Hope’s Peak in the 78th Class, as the SHSL Lucky Student. However, as of this year, myself and some of my former classmates will be taking teaching positions – two of them may be your homeroom teacher. As the students from last year will be aware, there will be _a lot_ of changes being made from last year, which I’ll be briefly covering.

“However, before we start, I’d like to welcome our six new students: Carrie, Devin, Sanders, MacArthur, Kitty and Brody.” A couple of them waved at the rest, as some of the group started clapping. “I hope you can easily adapt to your new high school life, and make plenty of new friends.

“And now onto how things will work around here. For starters, each class will have a homeroom teacher now. In order of each class, these will be your teachers – Kyoko Kirigiri, Byakuya Togami, Chisa Yukizome, Miaya Gekkogahara, and Koichi Kizakura.” Makoto paused for a moment as lots of happy whispers could be heard, although one of them was way louder than the others…can you guess who?

“OH MY GOSH IBUKI HAS NEVER BEEN SO HAPPY IN HER LIFETIME! TOMOKO-CHAN AND EVERYONE HAS THE GREATEST TEACHER IN THE ENTIRE WORLD!!” On stage, Chisa blushed. Once everyone quietened down, he continued.

“Secondly, the examination system will be different. At Hope’s Peak, all exams are practical demonstrations of your talents. They will be taking place in March, and is part of the reason why the classes are changing. Attending classes isn’t compulsory anymore, mainly so it gives you the opportunity to sharpen up your talents ready for those exams. Passing them is important if you want to stay at this school. However, it’s likely there will be a lot of lenience because it’s the first one.

“The last change is to do with all of you. This year, you can all start organising normal student activities freely, including a student council, any extracurricular clubs, and even a high school festival. For those who don’t know, near the end of a school year in Japan, students set up numerous stalls to showcase their achievements to the public. We feel it would not only raise awareness of our activities, but also be able to raise further funds for rebuilding purposes.

“For now, those are all the changes I can think of. You can leave ideas for extracurriculars in the cafeteria.” Makoto stepped back. “I hope you enjoy the rest of your orientation, and wish you luck in the rest of the year.” He bowed to the gymnasium, and everyone else repeated the gesture. Once they started filing out through the doors, he walked off to the side of the stage, being nudged by Hagakure.

“Great start, Naegi-chii!”

 _So far, so good_. Makoto and the other staff members were full of optimism for the rest of the year.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't thought of a talent for Brody yet (Surfer is used already by Bridgette), but here are the others:  
> Carrie = SHSL Artist  
> Devin = SHSL Unlucky Student [Ridonculous Race Episode 23]  
> Sanders/MacArthur = SHSL Good/Bad Cop  
> Kitty = SHSL Selfie


	4. Reunion of Rotten Oranges

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first proper day of school, including a criminally short reunion scene of the 77th Class and Hajime with their former homeroom teacher.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I just said, criminally short. The next couple should be pretty dull, heads up, then it will (hopefully) get more promising.

The day after orientation, each of the five classes got to meet their new homeroom teachers. Being the start of the actual school year, everyone had now switched to wearing their uniforms, too, and most people now knew their way around the school.

 

**\- CLASS 1 AND KYOKO KIRIGIRI –**

It had barely been 20 minutes since the start of the first day, and Kyoko was already silently praising that she’d chosen Class 1. Other than a few moments with Nekomaru and Akane, it had been extremely quiet, leaving her more time to look over the manga books from Tomoko (secretly of course – imagine everyone’s reaction, especially Hifumi, if they noticed). For now, she just got on with her work, while the students had quiet conversations in the background.

One of them was something that she was surprised nobody had asked last year.

“Fuyuhiko,” Mike tapped him on the arm. “I’ve been wondering for a while now, but what happened to your eye?” For those who weren’t aware, Fuyuhiko’s right eye was always closed with a vertical scar down the middle of it.

In the seat behind him, Peko tensed and made a move for her shinai, stopping as Fuyuhiko’s other eye glanced in her direction.

“I’m the SHSL Yakuza, right? It happened during a brawl with a rival gang some years ago. With a title like mine, it’s normal to expect that sort of thing.”

“Oh. Is the eye even still there? I-if you don’t mind me asking.”

“Yeah. It just doesn’t work anymore.”

Peko just watched the exchange between the two boys. _Young master really seems to have planned a cover story well enough. As long as he doesn’t ask about the scar itself, I think we’ll be fine._

The two boys eventually moved on to a different conversation, and Peko began talking with Mukuro and Zoey, a tremendous feeling of relief overwhelming her.

 

**\- CLASS 2 AND BYAKUYA TOGAMI –**

“Since it’s still the first day, you can do whatever you want for the first 20 minutes of the day. Then we’ll start class.”

While Sayaka’s friends spoke non-stop around her, she couldn’t help but stare at the empty desk that was supposed to be filled beside her. One of them seemed to immediately notice.

“Jeez, Maizono-chan. Will you get over yourself already? She’s gone for now – you can’t just mope about it all year long!”

“I know, but…”

“You _did_ try and send her a message, right?”

“She didn’t reply to it.”

Dakota leaned towards the girls. “Like she said on the last day, she was probably going to be really busy.”

While this continued, Carrie and Devin, the two latest additions to the class, were already conversing with their classmates: specifically, Sammy, Jasmine and Shawn.

“Hey Sammy, isn’t your sister part of the school too?”

“She was, but she left in the last few months.”

“It’s probably okay if we tell you, but Tomoko’s old friend was killed outside the town.”

“Oh God. She never told us that.”

“Because she left, everyone now thinks Amy was the one who did it, and the rest of the students hate her even more.”

“Even though nothing’s been proven yet. Wait, was her friend that Satoko Fukushima person on the news last spring?”

“That would be her.”

“Uh, can we drop the subject now? I don’t really want to keep talking about Amy.”

“Right,” Jasmine pushed her hat (which she still wore with the uniform) back. “Sorry.”

 

**\- CLASS 3 AND CHISA YUKIZOME -**

Meanwhile in Chisa’s classroom, the design on the walls was a simple white pattern, with red curtains by the windows, while the floor was an orange/white/blue tile pattern. On the front desk was the calendar and pen pot every other teacher had, as well as a pristine grey mini photo album – a photo of what looked like Chisa and two classmates at school on the front cover. Her usual apron was draped over the back of her chair, and her white/blue electric guitar leaning against the back wall (for some reason with the kanji for _Kyosuke_ written on it). Stashed in her drawer was her wakizashi for emergencies, and in her pocket was her usual purple notebook.

“For most of you, I don’t need to introduce myself, but for everyone else, my name is Chisa Yukizome. I used to attend Hope’s Peak as the SHSL Housemaid, and previously taught the 77th Class in Japan.”

A lot of the students grinned at this.

“I hope that we can all get along and have a super fun year!”

Tomoko whispered to Ibuki. “She seems really nice. We really did get lucky.”

“Thank you, Nagito-chan!”

“Everyone else is doing the same thing, but for now, we can do whatever we want to do. Nanami-san, Souda-kun, you two can set up the video games for everyone again if you want.”

“We get to play video games in class? Awesome!”

The rest of the day was spent doing just that (despite Kiyotaka’s protests).

 

**\- CLASS 4 AND MIAYA GEKKOGAHARA -**

“Good morning, everyone!” Needless to say, everyone was quite surprised that their new homeroom teacher was talking to them through a laptop. Even more unusual was that the character on said computer was a pink and white bunny rabbit AI in a tutu. If all that wasn’t enough, since Class 4 was the only class with zero Japanese students, they couldn’t understand what she was saying. “My name is Miaya Gekkogahara, and I hope we can get along!”

The looks on their faces indicating a lack of understanding started to give her the hint. Miaya then typed something onto her computer, and one of those buffer circles appeared over the top of Usami. A few seconds later, it disappeared and Miaya continued typing.

“Good morning, everyone!” Usami repeated, this time in English. “I’m your new homeroom teacher, Miaya Gekkogahara, and I used to attend Hope’s Peak as the SHSL Therapist. I hope we can get along!”

Cody raised a hand from the back. “Why are you talking through that rabbit?”

“I’m quite a shy person.” That was it. Nothing else about that. Instead, she turned round and set a load of textbooks on her lap. “We can do what we want for half an hour, but before I forget, I’ve been asked to hand these out.” There were 18 large blue books, which turned out to be Japanese books. “In future classes, you’ve been advised to learn Japanese. Since you’re a fully Western class, you’ve had less Japanese experience than the other four classes, so I’ve been asked to hand these out to you. I already know about two, maybe three of you, so please come and see me about it at the end of the day.”

A few people murmured amongst each other while books were dropped in front of them, as Miaya realised why she was put with this class – she was the only one who’d be able to properly interact with them, without any hesitation. Smiling behind her red scarf, Miaya typed more into her laptop, and Usami spun round on the screen a couple of times. “Now let’s start our first lesson!”

 

**\- CLASS 5 AND KOICHI KIZAKURA -**

In Mr Kizakura’s classroom, the walls had been covered by some cool looking blue wallpaper, and his desk was pretty cluttered. He had his usual hip flask of bourbon whiskey – no doubt with more alcohol hidden in a drawer – as well as the usual mini calendar and tub of pens, plus a photo of four men near the back. None of the class could see any of them, but it was unquestionable that Koichi was one of them.

“Alright, you guys. The name’s Koichi Kizakura, and I used to be a talent scout at the previous Hope’s Peak Academy. Right now, I’m feeling kinda tired, so feel free to do whatever you want for today.”

“The whiskey too much for you?” One of the boys called from the back, which earned a few laughs even from the drunk teacher himself.

“Hey guys!” Shinjiro stood up waving his ElectroID in the air. “You won’t believe what came out over the summer.”

“It’s something to do with Kill la Kill isn’t it?”

“You guessed it. Three words: English. Dub. Bloopers.”

“Turn that shit on!” Shinjiro pulled out the mini projector and connected it to his ElectroID, while the class stared at the screen in anticipation.

“Kill la Kill?” Newcomer MacArthur was confused. “If it’s coming from him, it’s probably an anime.”

“You’ll love it. Even if you haven’t seen the show or don’t like it, some of the lines are hilarious.”

He was right on the mark with that one. Almost the entire class were in stitches a minute into the video, including MacArthur. Even Koichi couldn’t help laughing a little bit.

_Most of the other teachers will probably want to get their students to bond. I think this Shinjiro kid’s beaten me to the punch._ The scout grinned, taking another swig of whiskey.

 

**\- BONUS: 77 TH CLASS AND CHISA YUKIZOME -**

“I’ll see you all tomorrow.” Most of Class 1 had left the classroom, except for Fuyuhiko, Peko, Akane, Nekomaru and the Imposter, who Kyoko had a message for. “Yukizome-san is waiting for you in her classroom. Second floor, room 2-A.”

“Thanks,” the five of them ran down the corridor (getting ready to slow down if Kiyotaka emerged from round the corner), while bumping into Hiyoko and Mahiru. In the meantime, from the third floor, Teruteru and Sonia ran down a floor.

The nine teens waited in the rec room until everyone else from Class 3 had left. They made their move as Mahiru overheard Tomoko talking with Kitty. As they got in, Hajime/Chiaki/Nagito/Ibuki/Mikan/Gundam/Kazuichi were still in their seats. In front of them, Chisa began to tear up at the sight of her old class.

“I can’t believe it…you’re all alright…”

“Of course we are, Sensei! Never doubt the 77th Class!”

“Has anyone found out yet?”

Peko coughed. “A couple of people have asked about things like Fuyuhiko’s eye, or Hinata’s heterochromia, but we’ve managed to cover it up successfully.”

“That’s a relief.” She then turned to Chiaki. “I’m assuming everything was explained to you at some point, Nanami-san.”

“Yeah, it was. And I know it wasn’t your fault. Whoever the mastermind was, it was because of them.” Chiaki then suddenly hugged her teacher. “I’m just really happy to see you again.  And everyone else is the same.”

The former housekeeper let even more tears roll down her cheeks as the rest of the students closed into a hug. While Chisa was definitely overjoyed to be reunited with her former students (plus Hajime), there was something that was on her mind from what Chiaki said.

_Hinata-kun…you didn’t tell her about Enoshima, did you?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IMPORTANT: if you decided to read this and had no idea about Junko Enoshima or the 77th Class etc...I did warn you. READ THE FRIGGING TAGS. If you did know, forgive me for such a horrifically bad reunion sequence.  
> I've been tempted to start another work with some kind of extras - OC profiles, notes based on certain choices in the series etc. - so if I do this, I might make an extended version of the reunion. That's a very big "if", though.


	5. A Spoonful of Sugar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kitty and her old Race friends find two new faces in the town.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Judging from the title, can you guess who it is?? (The prize is nothing because it's so frigging obvious)

By the end of the week, things already seemed better than the whole of last year. On Friday once school was over, Team E-Scope seemed to have a new member – Kitty – walking round town with them.

“So Kitty, what do you think of Hope’s Peak so far?”

“It’s amazing! I’ve already made loads of new friends in our class.”

“Yeah. They may be a bunch of psychos for the most part, but they’re our bunch of psychos.”

“Don’t you forget it, NoNo!” Izzy jumped on top of him, causing both of them to hit the floor.

“Wait, which class are you in, Eva?”

“Class 4. It’s pretty dull. The only ones there I can really relate to are Jo and Lightning. One more so than the other.”

“At least you have _someone_. Anyway, where are we going? Isn’t your place the other way?”

“We wanted to walk through the town for a bit. You know, in case there’s any new stores, or entertainment, or--”

“FOOD!”

The other four turned to face Owen, who was staring at a building that still looked just like the rest, but lighter somehow. The thing that made it brighter appeared to be the windows, which looked brand new and freshly polished. On the other side of said windows were some very pleasant looking cakes.

“How long has this place been around?”

“No idea. Maybe we should check it out. Before Owen gets too much drool on those windows.” Noah pulled him off as Izzy opened the door, a small bell tinkling as she did so.

The interior of this new building was a stark contrast to the remainder of the empty street. The walls were perfectly painted, not a crack in place, in shades of peach and pink. Some music also played quietly in the background. A large chalkboard was on the left wall, not a single mark on it, along with some pristine tables around the room, each with a couple of chairs around them. Behind all of this was a well-lit glass cabinet, with various cakes and sweets inside it, small price cards in front of each selection. At the very back was a bright door which was partially open, and Kitty thought she could see a boot sticking out from behind the wall. On top of the counter was another bell with another small paper sign in front, which read: 呼び鈴を鳴らしてください.

“Please ring for service. Or something.” Eva rang it a couple of times, before a chirpy voice responded from beyond the doorway, “One moment, please!”

In the meantime, Owen, Izzy and Kitty couldn’t stop staring at the massive assortment of treats in front of them, the latter of the three snapping photos with her phone of the shop. Noah and Eva just looked around normally. It didn’t take long for the woman who spoke before to come out. She had very short pink hair covered by a pink hat. She wore a pink coat with fur trimmings on the sleeves and collar, yellow shorts, white thigh-high socks, and pink boots. It’s fair to say, if you put her up by the wall, she’d be almost completely camouflaged.

“Hello! How can I help you?”

“What exactly is this place?” Noah leaned against the counter. “When you compare it to the rest of the town, it’s kinda suspicious.”

“Why, this is my confectionery shop, obviously! Being the Former SHSL Confectioner, it’s only natural.”

“Oh, so you’re a former student too?”

The woman never once seemed to stop smiling. “My name’s Ruruka Ando, a former student of Hope’s Peak’s 76th Class! From the looks of your uniform, I’m guessing you’re all students at that new Hope’s Peak, aren’t you?”

“That’s right! So if you’re a former student, your sweets must be-- EEP!” Kitty was taken aback by a small knife being hurled in her direction and lodging itself into the wall. Ruruka sighed happily and turned back to the door. “It’s okay, Yoi-chan!” A man with dusty blonde hair emerged from the doorway, wearing a large red coat and the large black boots that Kitty had seen earlier. “This is my boyfriend, Sonosuke Izayoi, the Former SHSL Blacksmith.” He just made a quiet grunting noise and nodded.

“That would explain the knife,” Eva said as she yanked it out of the wall, sliding it into her pocket. “I’m pretty sure that when others find out, more than a few people will be wanting to get their hands on some of these.”

“So,” Ruruka lightly pushed Noah’s arms off the counter, “what would you like to get? I have cakes, macarons, pastries…you name it!” Kitty looked interested in a load of small balls of pastry, which the confectioner picked up on. “Those are chou pops, which are very small choux pastries. They’re really popular treats in France. So far, there are five flavours.”

“Uh, there’s 18 people in our class including Ms Yukizome, plus Eva here so…I’ll take 30 assorted ones!”

* * *

 

Fortunately, the chou pops had lasted until Monday the next week. “Well, what do you think?”

“Mmm! These are great!”

“You got these from in town? I _have_ to see that shop for myself!”

“Are there any more coffee ones?”

“These were made by Ando-san? As to be expected.”

“If anyone wants anymore, you might want to hurry, otherwise Owen will end up eating them all.”

“Ando-senpai? I didn’t think I’d be hearing any more from her after her expulsion.”

“She got expelled from Hope’s Peak?”

“Long story short, a bomb went off in the middle of our exam, and she was one of the people who got blamed for it.”

“Jeez, what exactly went down at your old school?”

“Uh,” Hina stood up and tried to look into the box of chou pops, “are there many left?”

“Well, for now. If you want anymore, you’ll probably have to hurry. How come?”

…

“Afternoon, Shinjiro!” She and Sakura had agreed to meet up with him for regular workout sessions, as per his request, although the latter had something to discuss with their classmates for the first few moments. On today’s agenda was swimming, Hina’s strong suit. She was in a bathing suit with a towel over the top, while Shinjiro was sat on the end of the pool in swim trunks.

“Hey Hina! What you got there?” He pointed at the small box in her hand.

“It’s a chou pop, chocolate flavoured. A confectionery store opened up not too far from here, and Kitty-chan bought these for the entire class! They’re amazing!” Hina passed the box to Shinjiro, who took the chou pop out and ate it all in one. A few seconds of chewing passed before he let out a sound indicating he was enjoying it.

“Okay, I _have_ to get some of these for myself!” Hina couldn’t help laughing at his reaction. Mind you, it was a normal reaction, but she just found it cute. “Did they have any donuts?”

“I don’t know – it wasn’t me who went there. Maybe at some point, we can have a look for ourselves?”

“Yeah, I’ll be sure to take you up on that one.” The door to the pool then opened and Sakura joined the two at the pool. Like Hina, she too was in a swimsuit, only without the towel around her, just one over her shoulders. “I apologise for the delay. Now that all three of us are here, shall we get started?”

Shinjiro removed his glasses and set them on the side, on top of a pale blue towel filled with holes. “What first?”

Hina picked up a stopwatch that she’d (for some reason) been storing in the chou pop box. “Start off with swimming down to that end of the pool and back, just so we can get a time.”

“No problem.”

“And…go!”

* * *

 

As the door opened to the house, the smell of Tomoko’s cooking flooded Shinjiro’s nostrils. Ian was the one who saw him come back in. “You’re later than I expected.”

“I had to stop off on the way to pick something up. Tomoko’s had these already so take our word for it – they are awesome! Oh yeah, don’t worry about dessert, sis.” He dropped the box in his hands onto the worktop, in order to continue rubbing his hair with the towel on his shoulders.

_It’s official. I’m hooked. Huh…maybe this is how Hina feels about her donuts…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Editing this one was A NIGHTMARE because my laptop decided to update. Because I use rich text, I had to enter every paragraph, add all the italics etc., AND almost had to put all the speech marks back in.


	6. After School Poyoyon Hour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ibuki starts up her new extra-curricular club, the classes brainstorm ideas for fundraisers, and Scarlett finally finds another person she can relate to (although they aren't a student).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prepare to meet another familiar face from DR3.

By the next week, many extracurriculars had been set up. One of these was a new light music club, thanks to Ibuki. In the music room on Thursday afternoon, Ibuki was stood at the front of the stage, beside the grand piano, a clipboard in her hand.

“Welcome, friends of mine, to _Ibuki Mioda’s Musical Bootcamp!_ It is here that you will develop a greater appreciation for music, learn how to play an instrument if you can’t already, and develop close bonds with your bandmates!” She sighed. “It’s so good to see so many people with the same passion as Ibuki.”

She set the clipboard on top of the piano, and looked out at the two people stood in front of her.

“Hey Ibuki, were you expecting more people to be here?”

“Not really, but it makes me happier saying that.”

Those two people were Tomoko and Kitty. Tomoko had been near enough forced to sign up on orientation day in order to make her new best friend happy. As for Kitty, Tomoko was one of her new friends at the academy, and thought that she should join a club in order to get involved around the school.

“So Ibuki,” Tomoko started. “What are your plans for this club for the year?”

“Ibuki is glad you asked, Tomoko-chan!” She jumped off the stage to get closer to them. “It’s been Ibuki’s dream since she joined Hope’s Peak Academy to form a new band! Tomoko-chan plays guitar, and Ibuki can already play most instruments you’ll find in a band, so I’ll just have to teach Kitty-chan to play an instrument too! She sees you as a drums person.”

“Cool! When I had my video game obsession, I was pretty good at the drums on those music games.”

“Even though they’re a completely different thing…”

“Ibuki’s sold! There should already be some equipment in one of the back rooms, so we can get started right away!” The three girls ran for the music storage room to find the right equipment, getting ready for their first “boot camp session” to begin.

* * *

 

All this time, Scarlett had been hoping for someone on her level of intelligence, and had so far failed to meet anyone. There were people at the school with similar evil personalities (which Scarlett had been forced to hide while at the academy, otherwise the protection agreement between her and the Total Drama production crew would be annulled and she would be arrested), and very intelligent people, just nowhere near on her own level.

Feeling bored, she decided to go for a walk up to the large science lab on the fifth floor, the only classroom which she hadn’t seen in full yet. Apparently, it was already sort of split into three sciences – biology, chemistry and physics: the bio equipment was on the right, physics in the middle, and chemistry on the left. There were two barriers you could pull out from the walls in order to turn it into three separate rooms; as such, there are three doors in order to get in there.

Scarlett stopped outside the biology door (two grey doors you push inwards), to find it empty and with the wall up behind the physics end. Having only the first two lab spaces in her vision was quite useless to her, since the only one she was yet to see was the chemistry end. She already knew some of what to expect: about six work areas, various cabinets of equipment, and a storage room in the back (extra equipment for biology and physics, so naturally it would be various substances for the chemistry end). Closing the door and walking past the door to the physics section (a rounded and very modern looking door, as well as being the only one with an ElectroID scanner), she tried a third time and walked through the other set of grey doors, finally seeing what she wanted to see.

And something more…

Her expectations were right on the mark in regards to the layout of the room, but there was someone working at one of the benches, a woman. She noticed Scarlett watching her and jumped a little, but nothing drastic happened.

“My apologies. I thought the room would be empty.” That was a lie – if the walls were up, surely someone must have been inside to assemble them.

“I-it’s no problem.”

“You know, you don’t look like a student.”

She certainly didn’t. This woman had pale grey hair and purple eyes, with a purple respiratory mask with silver studs on it. Her outfit was made up of a white dress shirt, a dark leather jacket and miniskirt, purple belt and gloves, and black stockings.

“That’s because I’m not. W-well, currently.” She rose from her seat, setting down the equipment she was holding. “My name is Seiko K-Kimura, the Former SHSL Pharmacist.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Seiko.” Scarlett extended a hand. “My name’s Scarlett, the SHSL Scientist.” Seiko hesitantly took her hand. “You said you were a pharmacist. I assume that over there,” she pointed to the bench, “is something you’re working on?”

“I’m trying to revise one of my previous medicines. It was a reanimator, which had an effect of performance enhancement. When it was first used, however…let’s just say, a handful of people got crushed by a large Pomeranian.”

“I see.” Scarlett could only imagine. Intentional or not, this woman Seiko was a chemistry genius!

“So I’m trying to make a new version which has the same effects. O-only without the tremendous growth.”

“But how come you’re here?”

“Naegi allowed me to use the facilities here until I manage to sort out my own.”

The two science brains continued their conversing for another 20 minutes, until an announcement sounded over the intercom, calling all students back to their classrooms. She bid Seiko goodbye before making her way back. Even though she wasn’t a student, Scarlett was content with coming across that woman. She knew the two would get along just fine, should they meet again.

* * *

 

_“Firstly, each class has elected their class representatives: Cameron, Jasmine, Chiaki, Sierra and Geoff.”_

In each classroom, the students applauded for the other four class reps, even though they couldn’t hear it. They’d all been called back to their classrooms for an announcement from Makoto – he had a lot of work to do, and felt it would be easier to address everyone at once.

_“And now for the ten members of the new Hope’s Peak Academy Student Council. Noah, Alejandro Burromuerto, Beth, Dawn, The Imposter, Topher and Sonia Nevermind. The Student Council Secretary is Sayaka Maizono, the Student Council Vice President is Courtney, and the President is Kiyotaka Ishimaru.”_

Once again, every class applauded and congratulated any necessary members, although Courtney was quite pissed that she wasn’t the student council president.

_“The class reps will meet with the student council every month to share any new ideas raised by their classmates. For now, however, I’d like each class to start thinking of ideas to raise funds for the new school, since the re-construction work isn’t finished yet. When the student council have their first meeting, I hope that the class reps will be there with many bright ideas. Be sure to work hard for the rest of the day!”_

As the intercom shut off, the students began muttering to themselves, the odd idea being heard.

“We could try doing a karaoke themed night, and call the fans to get involved!”

“A speed dating session could be pretty cool.”

“What about a school sports day, and we can charge people to watch?”

“If we have anything we don’t need anymore, we can run a flea market.”

“In December, we could go into the city and go carol singing!”

“Owen would be great in a Man vs Food event!”

“A competition between all the different classes would be a good way to involve everyone here!”

…

Later on, the five class representatives were together and reading over the ideas they’d come up with, with Jasmine skim-reading the ideas and quietly stating her opinion with each one.

“Not everyone would enjoy just that; or this one; that could work; so could that one; I’m not keen; I agree with that point; that person’s right too.”

“There’s tons of ideas here. How can we narrow it down to just a few things?”

“Check this one out.” Geoff put a slip of paper into the middle of the table they were all at. It was an idea from Shinjiro on its own piece of paper separate from the others, although the main reason was because he’d been out of school for that day and had heard about the five asking for suggestions.

_My idea for fundraising is everyone in the school (and maybe even from the Race!) completing an endurance run, possibly around the entire city. We could get sponsors to donate, and charge family and fans to watch it – maybe even air it on TV!_  
_\- inspired by episode 75 of Fairy Tail_

“What a shocker,” Jasmine said after reading the last sentence. “But a lot of the more athletic people would enjoy the competition.”

“Awesome! Put it near the top of the list.” Sierra typed the suggestion into her phone near the top of all the suggestions, while the other four continued scanning over the lists. “Once we sort these, why don’t we feedback to everyone at an assembly?”

“Great idea.”


	7. Martial Arts Club

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ibuki plans a day out for her new best friends, and Teruteru prepares for some (off-screen) hijinks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Behold, the first chapter in months that totals less than 1000 words! Also, I don't want to continue what happens at the end of the chapter for two reasons:  
> 1) I can't be bothered  
> 2) it would increase the rating

Tomoko and Kitty weren’t just part of the Musical Bootcamp/Light Music Club on Thursdays, but also Sakura’s new martial arts club on Wednesdays. She was stood at the front in her PE uniform, which everyone else was in. Beside Sakura was Hina, and in the crowd were the following people: Mukuro, Sky, Jasmine, Peko, Harold, Kiyotaka, Brick, MacArthur, and the two girls.

“While most other school clubs will have spent their first session running over what will be happening during the year, I believe that we should start immediately with club activities. There is an even number of club members, so find a partner.”

Peko and Mukuro approached one another, as did Sky and Jasmine. Kitty decided to go with MacArthur, since they already knew each other from the Race. Obviously Hina and Sakura were happy to pair up with each other, and Brick semi-reluctantly decided to pair up with Harold. This left the last two people in the room without partners – Tomoko and Kiyotaka – to pair up.

“These people will be your partners for a majority of club activities, so be sure not to forget them.” Tomoko and Hina both grinned at each other, then looked back at Sakura. “For now, because I am assuming everyone here can fight, we shall start with free sparring. Afterwards, we will start with proper instruction.”

Each of the pairs then broke away from each other. Sakura and Hina jumped right into it, with Sakura taking it a lot easier than some of the students were used to. Mukuro and Peko, however, both went full force against each other, knife against shinai (both had to start off with fake weapons, to avoid injury on day 1). Sky and Jasmine started off lightly, since while they were both strong, Sky wasn’t the best at fighting. The last three groups, however spent some time talking with each other.

“I get it with MacArthur and Brick, and I remember Harold from the show, but Tomoko and Taka?”

“I did karate for a while back when I lived in Japan, and really wanted to get back into martial arts.”

“As for me, I’m a kendo practitioner, although not on the same level as Pekoyama-kun.”

“Didn’t you say during the Race you did fusion kickboxing-yoga?”

“Brown belt, actually!”

Sky turned round for a moment upon hearing this. “That exists?”

“Yeah.”

“Anyway, don’t you think we should get to training?” Kitty spun around, throwing a punch at MacArthur, who was obviously able to block it. Within seconds, both girls were knelt on the floor, putting the other in a headlock.

_Clearly they haven’t forgotten episode 19._

“Fukuhara-kun!”

“Oh, sorry.” Doing a double-take to make sure neither of the two girls were on the edge of death, Tomoko joined Kiyotaka on their mat. “So, what should we start off with?”

“I’m more gifted in kendo, as I just mentioned, but I’ll see if I can defeat you in hand-to-hand combat.”

“Sure. Bring it on.” Clearly, Kiyotaka had the better movements around the mat, but Tomoko was more gifted when it came to the techniques themselves. As Sakura called the club members back to the middle of the room, Tomoko successfully managed to sweep her partner, landing him on his back, slightly out of breath.

“Impressive, Fukuhara-kun! Clearly, it’ll take some effort on my part to beat you in hand-to-hand combat.” Tomoko pulled him back up onto his feet. “I’ll make that one of my main objectives for this year…” he pointed at her, smiling, “to beat you at least once!”

“I can’t wait to see you try,” Tomoko teased, as they both re-joined the rest of their group.

 

* * *

 

By the end of the session, Kitty and Tomoko were the last two to leave. They were met, however, with quite an unexpected surprise.

“Ibuki has an idea!”

Both girls almost fell onto their butts as Ibuki’s head popped out from above the doorway, obviously stunning them both.

“How long have you been waiting there?”

“For the whole time! Anyway, hear Ibuki out. We should go out into Toronto for a day and do all kinds of fun things, with shopping being at the top of the list! Ibuki’s been in need of a new wardrobe, and I think Tomoko-chan is the same.”

“She has a point.”

“It sounds like a good idea. I’d be up for it!”

“Is next Saturday any good?”

“I’m free then. Let’s do it!”

“I’ve got nothing else to do.”

Ibuki hopped down and threw an arm over each of them, the three of them walking away from the clubhouse together. “Ibuki will take that as a yes.”

 

* * *

 

Sneaking back into the school on Saturday morning had been much easier than Scarlett expected. Her intention was to meet up with Seiko again, but as it turned out, the entrance was unlocked already. Nobody else seemed to be about in the halls, which was a relief – if she were to bump into someone from Total Drama Pahkitew Island, they could start to distrust her.

As she reached out for the third door to the lab, it swung open before she even touched it. Stood on the other side, in his usual chef’s attire, was Teruteru. He had a sheepish look on his face, three jars with exotically coloured liquids inside, and the beginning of a violent nosebleed starting to form.

“Teruteru. What are those… _things_ for?”

“Are you a member of Class 5?”

“No.”

“Then that is of zero concern to you, madam.” A bit too quickly, Teruteru ran back down the hallway, small blood droplets landing on the floor, with all three jars still in his arms.

Scratching her head, Scarlett eventually shrugged and walked through the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise the next chapter will be somewhat better, and it will focus on Tomoko/Ibuki/Kitty's day out.


	8. Become Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The members of Ibuki's "Musical Bootcamp" spend the day at the mall, and encounter someone unexpected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thought I may as well update one more time before going back to school. Also, about updates, until I have even more chapters typed up in advance, I'll update roughly every week.

Having knocked on the Fukuhara’s front door several times now, Ibuki began to get restless. For the day, she’d dressed in a white polo shirt and black skirt, with a pink fingerless glove on each hand. After waiting for an entire minute, Ian was the one who opened the door.

“How long have you been waiting there?”

“About a minute.”

“Anyway, she’s just drying her hair off. She got out of the shower not too long ago.”

“Sorry Ibuki!” Tomoko ran down the stairs carrying her new Los Angeles bag, hair still slightly damp. Her outfit was a white tank top, with her red intern shirt unbuttoned over the top, and a pair of black leggings on the bottom. “You haven’t been waiting for long, have you?”

“Not really. Kitty-chan should be waiting for us outside the academy. I think her sister is driving us into the city, and she’s said we can have a sleepover over there if we want to!”

“I’ll have to see about that, but I’d be okay with it.”

Ibuki’s stomach then started growling pretty loudly. “Uhh…does Tomoko-chan have anything for breakfast?”

“Yes, I do.” Tomoko ran into the kitchen and picked up a handful of pastries off the worktop, dropping them into a sandwich bag. “I made these this morning: pain au chocolat, only with _white_ chocolate instead of milk.”

Ibuki shovelled two of them into her mouth. “Tomoko-chan is amazing in the kitchen! Please make these for Ibuki every morning!”

“Sorry, I don’t think it would be possible for me to do that.” She checked the time. “Anyway, we should probably set off now.”

…

Emma’s car was parked on the curb next to the gate to Hope’s Peak, with her sister stood outside. Kitty appeared to be in a highly similar outfit to her usual one, only with a different colour scheme: same shirt, same shoes, only with a blue version of her top and a navy blue skirt.

“You guys ready to go?”

“Think so. Also, I have breakfast,” Tomoko held the bag out, and Kitty took one of the pastries out of it. After some seconds, her face lit up.

“Mmm! This is so cool!”

“Thanks.”

“Anyway, let’s get going!”

…

“Alright. Where should we go first?”

“Ibuki has no clue. So until she can figure it out, let’s race to the fountain!” Ibuki took off before the other two could even acknowledge they were racing. Tomoko was next, with Kitty following.

“Tomoko, does she know she just went in the completely wrong direction?”

“Probably not. At least it should give her longer to come up with an idea for where she wants to go first.”

The girls made it to the fountain in the reverse order that they set off in. Mainly because Kitty knew her way around already and Ibuki didn’t. This was proven when she arrived five minutes after Kitty.

“Alright, that’s one loss for you Ibuki.”

“Why start counting them?”

“I have an idea for a bet. We keep racing to the different stores we want to go to. The first person to lose three times has to buy everyone else lunch.”

“Deal.”

“Ibuki is in!” _Bad idea._

“So, where exactly are we gonna go first?”

Tomoko looked to the left. “Well, there’s a clothes shop over there.” Kitty grabbed their arms and dragged them over to the door, Ibuki looking equally as enthusiastic and Tomoko just wearing a simple smile.

 

* * *

 

Having spent about an hour and a half in there, all three of them ended up leaving with bags. Kitty carried a white skirt with coloured polka dots, a red crop hoodie, and a plaid skirt in multiple shades of purple. She’d insisted Tomoko buy a matching one, as well as a camouflage patterned vest top, plus a grey beanie. In Ibuki’s bag was a pair of long white socks, some neon blue nail varnish, a black cross necklace and a magenta hoodie, which somewhat confused Tomoko.

“I thought you sewed all your clothes yourself?”

“I only got this hoodie because I wanna make it look even cooler!”

“You’ll have to show us when it’s done! Okay, so there’s another accessory shop round the corner. And…GO!”

“Oh, hey! Ibuki wasn’t ready!”

 ...

“Alright, 2-0-0 to Ibuki.”

After leaving that store, each of them had added something new to their bags: Ibuki had a cute handwarmer, Tomoko had a new pair of sunglasses, and Kitty had a dark purple banana sticker to go on the back of her phone.

“Can you _please_ let Ibuki win this round??”

“Why don’t we make this one more interesting?” Kitty unpeeled the sticker and pressed it onto the back of the red phone. “This time, we run up two floors, complete one lap round it, back down again, and then to wherever we’re going for lunch.”

“I’m okay with that. Where are we meant to be going, anyway?”

“I think McDonalds. It’s quick and I haven’t eaten there in ages.”

“So that’s that then.” Tomoko got ready to make a sprint towards the escalator.

“Remember, if Ibuki comes in last, she buys everyone’s lunch.”

“Hey!”

“On your marks…get set…"

* * *

 

“Darn it.” Ibuki sighed. “Ibuki’ll be bankrupt by the time she gets home!” She was now not only tired and slightly sweaty, but also down 20 dollars thanks to losing that last round. While Kitty had gone to get a table, Tomoko was waiting to pick up the order.

“Maybe next time you should try moving quicker.”

“Order number 96! One Big Mac, one Fillet O’ Fish, and one nugget meal!” Tomoko moved to the counter and took the tray off the man stood there.

“Thanks Shinjiro.” Beat. “SHINJIRO? How come you’re here?”

He pushed his glasses up his nose, the light reflecting off the lenses again. “Well, I completed a résumé, submitted it to the manager on Tuesday, and here I am.”

“Thank you, Captain Obvious.”

“Besides, did you hear about what happened with my class on that day I was out?”

“You mean that thing with the Doping Corn Soup?”

“Yeah,” Shinjiro adjusted his grey cap. “Sonia said that she and her old classmates went through the same thing when they were at the old school. Hanamura agreed.”

“So obviously it was thanks to Hanamura-kun. Also, you had to see this question coming but…”

“What?”

“Did you apply for a job at McDonalds because of some anime? Wasn’t there one about a demon coming to earth and working at a fast food restaurant?”

“It was because of that one. Paper rounds are too boring, and it means I get discounts whenever I want to eat here!”

“Tomoko-chan! I’m still exhausted and need food!”

“Alright, I’m coming!” She turned back to her brother. “See you later.” Reaching their table, she dropped the tray on their table, which was close to the door.

“Any ideas for what we should do after lunch?”

“Because she lost the game, maybe Ibuki can decide.”

“Ibuki wants to play _The Floor is Lava_ in the mall!”

“Fair enough. Are there any more stores to go to?”

“I want to try looking at the books they have here.”

“Okay, so _The Floor is Lava_ , and book store. This could be interesting.”

 

* * *

 

The final store that the girls decided to go into before leaving the mall was the bookstore, as Tomoko requested, where surprisingly, they were greeted by Komaru. Instead of her old high school sailor fuku, she was now dressed in an orange shirt and brown cardigan, with a black skirt. She looked way more grown up.

“Welcome, you three! Is there anything in particular you’re looking for?”

“Not really, but thanks anyway.”

Komaru smiled at them and walked away. Ibuki and Kitty both went straight for the teen books, (with the former saying “the floor is lava”) while Tomoko kept wandering until she was stood in front of the manga shelf, and noticed a row of coloured books on one of the top shelves.

“You lose, Tomoko-chan!”

“Hmm, this sounds interesting.” Ignoring her, she picked up a yellow book with a weird smile on the front cover. “Assassination Classroom?

 _“Ever caught yourself screaming, “I could just kill that teacher”? What would it take to justify such antisocial behaviour and weeks of detention? Especially if he’s the best teacher you’ve ever had? Giving you an “F” on a quiz? Mispronouncing your name during roll call…_ again _? How about blowing up the moon and threatening to do the same to Mother Earth – unless you take him out first?! Plus a reward of a cool 100 million from the Ministry of Defence!_

 _“Okay, now that you’re committed… How are you going to pull this off? What does your pathetic class of misfits have in their arsenal to combat Teach’s alien technology, bizzare powers and …_ tentacles _?!”_

This manga was starting to gain the interest of Tomoko. Dropping herself onto the nearest beanbag, she started reading the first chapter while Ibuki and Kitty kept on looking through the shelves.

“Ah, Assassination Classroom!” Komaru leaned over her as she neared the end of the first chapter. “That’s actually one of my favourites! They’ve just released number 16 in Japanese, while they’re only on number 6 here.”

“It looks really good. And yes, before you ask, I’m fluent in English.”

“So, do you want to buy it?”

“Actually, I’ll order it in Japanese online when I get back home.”

“Good choice! Less time to wait. Oh, don’t worry, I’ll put that back.”

As it turned out, the other girls had already left and were waiting outside for her to finish. “Did Tomoko-chan find something interesting?”

“A manga series. I’m gonna buy it online though, and in Japanese.”

Kitty’s phone buzzed in her pocket. “Emma says she’s ten minutes away from here. Before I forget, too…” she turned on her phone camera and pointed it at the three of them, switching it to selfie mode. “As a reminder of the awesome day we all had!”

“Only because you won all the races.”

The three flashed smiles and peace signs as the camera flashed. They crowded round to look at the picture when…

“The floor is lava!”

They instantly broke apart and found the nearest surface to jump onto, with Ibuki once again finishing in last and acting out the most over-exaggerated death ever. Her two friends laughed, Tomoko filming the whole thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The anime in question is called "Hataraku Maou-sama", or "The Devil is a Part Timer". Also, I finished watching Assassination Classroom a while ago and really wanted to use it in the fanfic somewhere. It also counts as fodder for a background "sub-plot" for Tomoko/Shinjiro.  
> The banana sticker is supposed to be like the Apple logo, since they use a banana instead in Total Drama.


	9. A Festival?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final fundraising idea is decided upon, and Makoto has an overdue talk to his counterpart in Japan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, two more DR3 characters appear, as well as another OC (but this will probably be one of three or four appearances). Also, SPOILERS FOR DR3 FUTURE ARC IN THE SECOND HALF.

Some weeks passed since the first discussion of fundraising ideas, before the list got passed over to the Student Council. The class representatives had put votes beside each of them and ranked them in order, then the Council decided to ask for more ideas.

The students had gathered in the gymnasium at the end of the week, with the class reps and seven members of the Student Council on the front row. Sayaka and Kiyotaka were sat on the stage, the former with a notepad in their lap, and Courtney was stood behind the lectern. Although she wasn’t the president, she’d insisted that she start off the assembly. After all, she had lots to say about the ideas they’d been given, and let’s face it – complaining about her fellow student/contestants’ ideas was her strong point.

“Alright, we’ve looked over everyone’s ideas for fundraising. The ones that received the most votes overall were the karaoke event, the sports day, and a contest between all the classes. As for the other ones…” Courtney really had to bite her tongue to prevent an onslaught of insults, “well, let’s just say that they aren’t really the sort of thing for everyone. The Man vs Food thing would _only_ work for Owen, if not probably four of five other people. The speed dating and carol singing would be good for a _very_ small number of students. Yes, Jasmine?”

“You missed two of the ideas off.”

Courtney stopped to check the list. “Oh, yeah. One of them just seems pretty boring, and the other one…” she just sighed.

Shinjiro raised a hand and stood up. “What was the problem with my idea then? Is it just because it’s from an anime?”

The vice-president just moved on, which caused the anime fan to just groan and sit down.

“And I thought she was a tight-ass on TV,” he whispered to Duncan, leading to the two boys quietly sniggering.

In the meantime, on the stage, Kiyotaka took Courtney’s place behind the lectern, continuing the assembly. “While the ideas you’ve all come up with are good ideas, we still think it won’t be enough. If the building work on campus was finished, then maybe so. However, there are still lots of areas that need refurbishment, so we need more money. Does anyone have any extra suggestions?”

The first contributor was Bridgette. “Some of us have talents we could use to make and sell things. You know, like Teruteru can open some kind of mini-restaurant, Ibuki and some others can hold a gig, and Sam & Chiaki could host a gaming tournament.”

Junko had the next idea. “Why don’t we put on a play, and charge fans of the show to watch it!”

The rest of the group seemed to like the ideas, so Sayaka jotted them all down. Kiyotaka continued talking. “All these ideas are good, and they are possible for us to carry out, but doing too many separate events at once will take up far too much time. Unless there’s a way for us to put them all together…”

Zoey raised a hand from the middle of the crowd. “I have an idea about how we can do all these ideas.”

“And what would that be?”

“Don’t they do school festivals in Japan? When they set up stalls and members of the public look around? Why don’t we put loads of the ideas together like you said, and throw one of those?”

Lots more people murmured their consent, which the Student Council took note of. Sayaka wrote down that idea on the list, while Kiyotaka addressed his classmates again. “Since you all look very interested in Zoey’s idea, we’ll take a vote. Everyone who would rather we throw a school festival, raise your hand.”

All but probably four of five did so. Sayaka wrote this down on her notepad, while the rest of the Student Council nodded at each other.

“Then it’s decided! We shall hold a school festival at the end of the year! In your classes, it would be beneficial for you all to come up with even more ideas for us to use.”

Meanwhile, the teachers watched from backstage, happy that they were finally starting to return to a normal school life. Makoto then suddenly started walking away from the others.

“Naegi-kun,” Kyoko stopped him. “Where are you going?”

“Seeing everything look so normal made me want to do something.”

 

* * *

 

Meanwhile, in Japan, the school day at Hope’s Peak Academy was going equally as smooth. After the events of the last few years, various members of an organisation called Future Foundation had been able to re-open the original school, and some members even became staff. The first two classes had even been scouted, only this time, the concept of SHSL Lucky Students had been abolished, as had the Reserve Course (mainly because the latter was the cause of said previous events). With the system being different in Japan, while in Canada they were two months into the school year, the Japanese kids were halfway through theirs, and were planning their own school festival.

The 79th Class, during this point in time, were missing one member: their teacher, Manami Asakawa, who was running towards the headmaster’s office carrying a mobile phone. Out of breath, she knocked on the door before entering.

“Munakata-sensei! Phone call for you.”

The temporary headmaster of Hope’s Peak Academy Japan, Kyosuke Munakata, looked up from his desk with a neutral expression.

“Asakawa, how come you received the call?”

She scratched the back of her head, laughing nervously. “I guess he must have received the wrong number. Anyway, here you go! I have a class to return to.” The teacher left the room as Kyosuke answered the phone.

“Kyosuke Munakata, headmaster of Hope’s Peak Academy."

_“Ah, Munakata-san! It’s been quite a while.”_

A small smile appeared on his face. “Makoto Naegi. How is this new school life of yours going?”

_“It’s going very well so far! Everyone who initially went to the school has adapted well, and none of the Canadian ones have found out the truth yet.”_

“That’s quite a relief. If word of the events at the end of the Tragedy were to get there, who knows what would happen.”

A short silence passed between them before Kyosuke spoke again. “How’s Chisa getting on with her former students?”

_“Huh? Kirigiri-san said that they all had a reunion after the first day. She isn’t teaching them all, though.”_

“I see.” A knock on the door distracted him. “One moment.” His friend Juzo Sakakura opened the door, groaning lightly. “What happened this time?”

“Those 79th Class troublemakers are at it again.”

“The same ones as usual?”

“Yeah. It’s the fourth time this month. And how did _that one_ get those friends of his through the gate anyway?”

“It’s _that_ class. What can’t they do? I assume you’ll handle it, though.”

“No problem, Munakata.”

“It’s fine if you want to use my first name, Juzo.”

“Uhh, sure…K-Kyosuke.” The former boxer scratched the back of his head, blushing a bit.

The headmaster smiled at his friend. “Make sure the trespassers get off the campus. I’ll deal with the students later.”

Juzo grinned and punched his real hand against his left metal one before taking his leave. As the door closed, Kyosuke sighed before going back to the phone.

“Being the principal of Hope’s Peak does have its downsides.”

_“You said it. Have you started building any new international branches yet?”_

“Two of them already. A third one is currently in the planning stages. When I can recruit a new principal for this branch, I’ll become the CEO for all of them.”

 _“After less than two years?!”_ Makoto laughed in an impressed tone. _“As expected of the former SHSL Student Council President.”_ Kyosuke was suddenly reminded of Chisa saying the same words years ago.

From the other end of the phone, a door opened and a familiar voice could faintly be heard…Hagakure, or somebody. One of his classmates.

_“I have to go for now, but I’ll be sure to keep in touch.”_

“Please do.” Kyosuke set the phone back down before turning to the window of his office. The sun was beating down on newly constructed buildings, where only two years prior, there would’ve been no sign of the sun – only a red sky with gloomy black clouds. If it hadn’t been for the remaining members of Future Foundation, the level of progress would have been much more monotonous.

The principal held his hand up to the right side of his face, where what was left of his eye was. One of the Remnants, the former SHSL Nurse, had told him that he wouldn’t be able to see out of it again (the damage was rather major, given how far in the old man had shoved that piece of metal). Seiko Kimura had said the same thing when she came back. Despite this, he couldn’t help but smiling.

The scars may be everlasting, but the Tragedy itself was over. All thanks to them.


	10. Puzzle to the Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kyoko invites Tomoko to assist with her first investigation, and Ian launches a contest between his new family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here comes the aforementioned "sub-plot" following on from chapter 8.

By November, the idea for the school festival was being discussed, and Kyoko was ready for Tomoko to assist with her investigations. Surprisingly, the intern was the first to get to the meeting point (which was Kyoko’s own classroom, so it was a big surprise). It did give her time, however, to think about why Kyoko needed _her_ help with this, not anyone else’s. Maybe there were some clues that were in foreign languages that needed translating. Or maybe it had something to do with Total Drama? Whatever the reason...no clues whatsoever (no pun intended).

“I’m sorry, have you been waiting very long?” Kyoko was in the doorway, a small satchel on her shoulder.

“Oh, not really Kirigiri-san. Sensei. Uh…”

“-san is fine.”

“Okay then. But no, I haven’t been waiting here very long.”

“That’s good.”

“We won’t be investigating in here. I have a room separate from everywhere else that we can use. Follow me.”

The two left the main building and walked past groups of students towards the (still tacky looking) clubhouse. The first half of the walk was spent in silence, until Tomoko asked her something, once everyone else had passed.

“Kirigiri-san, why exactly do you need my help with this and not anyone else?”

“I will explain everything to you when we get started.”

They fell back into silence immediately afterwards.

Tomoko had no idea where exactly in the clubhouse they could hold a private meeting, since on the ground floor there was only the light music club and martial arts club, with the Student Council room and photography club on the next floor.

“There are quite a few stairs to get to the top, but I’m sure you’ve been up far more.”

_Oh right, there’s an empty floor on the top of the building._

After four flights of stairs, Kyoko led Tomoko down an empty hallway with absolutely no doors. At least, until they reached the end. When she opened it, she saw a…rather empty room. Vastly empty bookshelves lined the back wall, and a dry erase board was on the right hand wall. There was a relatively small table with four chairs in the middle of the room. Tomoko couldn’t help looking at the shelves – there was only a closed laptop at kneeling level, and a projector on the very top shelf. Kyoko walked over towards them, and pulled the four manga books she purchased for her out of her satchel and onto one of the top shelves. Tomoko sat down in one of the seats, with Kyoko joining her after a few moments. Reaching back into her bag, she set down a notebook in front of each of them, followed by two flasks in the middle, which confused Tomoko somewhat.

“One’s coffee, the other’s tea. I assume you aren’t much of a coffee fan?”

“Uh, right. So the tea’s all for me then?”

“Exactly,” she unscrewed the top of the coffee flask and poured some into the lid. “Before I get started, how much did you pay for the manga books?”

“I think it was twelve dollars.”

“I see.” Kyoko rummaged through her bag until she removed a purse, removing twelve dollars and putting it in front of Tomoko. “As promised. I _did_ say I would pay you back.”

“Oh yeah, thanks.”

“Anyway, like you asked, I’ll tell you why I asked you to help me rather than anyone else.” The detective dropped her bag onto the floor, taking a sip of her coffee. “Some of the events relating to this case involved the old Hope’s Peak Academy, and I didn’t want to ask any of its former students to assist. I already have my fair amount of suspicions, but I could have easily overlooked something…or someone.”

“But still, why not someone more professional from Total Drama? Like one of the Police Cadets, or Chris?”

“While there are those who would seem more trustworthy, this isn’t something I would want other people to find out. Also, would _you_ trust Chris with something like this?”

“…good point.”

“Fukuhara-san, over the last year, I’ve established that I can trust you with this, and you can handle it. I say that because this case is likely to have dark and disturbing origins.”

“Alright.”

“I understand if you don’t want to help, but either way, this investigation needs to be kept a secret from everyone else. It’s your choice.”

Tomoko had a sip of tea. “I’m fine helping.” Almost immediately, one of the manga books she’d bought was dropped in front of her. This one was The Tragedy of Hope’s Peak Academy, the second one.

“I’ve already checked both, and there isn’t anything abnormal in the first one. This one, however, I want you to make some deductions for yourself.”

Nodding, Tomoko opened the book and started reading:

_As the name suggests, the Tragedy of Hope’s Peak Academy took place at Hope’s Peak Academy. The key player in that event was a student known as Izuru Kamukura. Izuru was a genius known as a symbol of hope. Hope’s Peak used all their resources to develop him. Supposedly, Izuru was a genius among geniuses, and possessed various talents, wielding superior talent for the hope of mankind, the academy referred to Izuru as the SHSL Hope._

_To protect such rare talent, the academy completely concealed all evidence of Izuru’s origins and identity. Because of that, most of the students at the academy were completely unaware of Izuru’s existence. But Izuru, who was known as the symbol of hope, was responsible for a horrible incident. Thirteen students of Hope’s Peak Academy’s Student Council, among the academy’s brightest and best, were brutally murdered by Izuru! However, the incident did not end there. The academy tried to protect Izuru’s superior talent and concealed the incident as though it never happened._

_However, a certain student began working in secret to use that incident to their advantage. That student uncovered what the academy did, and by making that knowledge public, it stoked the fires of Reserve Course students, who had long been dissatisfied with how they’d been treated, and the uprising began._

_And that…heralded the destruction of Hope’s Peak Academy._

“…”

“I told you.”

“To think something like this would happen under your noses…and you had no idea…”

Kyoko pushed a folder across her desk, which contained fourteen sheets of paper. “In there are the profiles to the members of the Student Council. You can use those for the investigation. I came across them at the old Hope’s Peak Academy not long before we left to come to Canada.”

“Wait a minute.” Tomoko read back over a page. “The Reserve Course? Isn’t that where Hinata-kun came from?”

Kyoko just stared at her with her usual calm demeanour. “Yes. But he later became a student of the Main Course for showing some sort of talent. It was possible, but exceptionally rare.”

The two women continued looking over the resources without much more conversation between them, Tomoko more so, and making notes on any theories they could cook up.

 

* * *

 

As Tomoko came through the doorway of her own home, she felt something rustle under her foot.

“What the…?” She bent down and picked up a rectangular parcel. Opening it the wrong way round by accident, a yellow Japanese book fell out of the packaging. Tomoko smiled. “Yes! Finally!”

“Hm? Tomoko, you’re late home.”

“I had a meeting with Kirigiri-san. Nothing really major.”

“What you holding there?” Shinjiro peered round the other boy, glancing at the cardboard on the floor.

“A manga book. _Assassination Classroom_.”

“Seriously? That anime’s on my watchlist. I haven’t got round to that one yet, but loads of people online have recommended it!”

“Well,” Ian said, “are you watching anything major at the moment?”

“Not really. I’m trying to watch loads of them at the same time to improve my talent.”

“Then I have a fun idea for the two of you.”

…

A few minutes later, Shinjiro and Tomoko were stood at opposite ends of the dining table. Shinjiro’s phone was turned on with a tab of Assassination Classroom open in front of him, while the manga was in front of Tomoko, a bookmark on top. Ian stood between them holding his notebook.

“Alright. This is an event I like to call: the Assassination Classroom Anime vs Manga Race! The objective is simple…be the first to finish either the anime or the manga, and you win!”

“Interesting.”

“The prize is something that the two of you can decide on. However, I’ve come up with some rules to keep it fair.” The first person he turned to was Tomoko.

“Tomoko, even though you’ve already read one chapter, to keep it fair, you have to start from the beginning. You have to read every single chapter, including the Tankobon extras, previews and authors notes, but you can skip ads for other manga series. Every manga book has to be in the same language, so you aren’t allowed to buy any of the books in English. Furthermore, the maximum amount you can read is one whole book per week. However, you are allowed to order one-day delivery shipping.”

He then looked to the other one. “Shinjiro, you have to watch every episode of the main anime, from both series. Every episode has to be the normal length – no slowed down or sped up versions. You can watch either language, though. You have to watch each opening and ending sequence at least once, but you don’t have to watch it every time. The limit is two episodes per week. Also, to make sure you don’t get an unfair advantage, you aren’t allowed to sabotage Tomoko’s manga deliveries.

“Now a few rules for _both_ of you. Every two weeks, I’ll ask you to leave a hint as to where in the series you’re up to. Furthermore, both of you will have to stop for two months after finishing season 2, or its equivalent. According to Wikipedia, it’s the end of an arc that involves a beach setting.”

Ian then leaned over the table, looking down at the wood. “And now for the most important, which applies to both of you still. Breaking this rule will lead to immediate disqualification. The ultimate commandment…or so Shinjiro might say.”

In a very unexpected move, he grabbed both their shirt collars and pulled them in towards him, glaring at both of them.

“NO. SPOILERS. ALLOWED. Do you both accept these rules?”

“I do.”

“Ditto.”

Ian smiled and let his “siblings” go, both leaning over their phone/book, hands hovering over them.

“The date today is Tuesday 10th November. Season 2 is released on January 7th 2016, and the final Japanese manga is published on July 4th 2016. I’ll pin the rules to the wall outside the lounge. The AssClass Anime vs Manga Race begins…NOW!”

The twins snatched their things off the table and threw themselves onto the sofa or the floor and made their move. Ian used this opportunity to head up to his room (after tacking the rules up), and slumped over the desk he shared with Shinjiro. It was rare he had it to himself with peace and quiet: either Shinjiro used it, Leon was over, or he could still hear some loud anime from his “brother’s” phone.

“This race should give me 40 minutes tops to start writing something.”

Despite this, he was happy that he’d come up with this idea – it was definitely something he never would have even thought of doing last year. _Huh, maybe being away from Tess gives me more confidence than I thought._

And even though the other two looked too engrossed in their little challenge, they’d noticed it too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: the classes brainstorm ideas for the school festival.


	11. Beautiful Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The ideas for the festival come in. All the rest is pointless filler.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And yes, the name of the chapter is almost identical to chapter 2.

The middle of November eventually rolled around, and then came the time to start brainstorming ideas for things to do in the school festival. The way the classes had decided to arrange this was one class a day (to prevent multiple classes coming up with the same idea), so starting off was Class 1. Their class representative, Cameron, stood by the board at the front, with Mike next to him holding a chalk.

“Because we’re the first ones to come up with ideas, there aren’t really any limitations on suggestions. So when you have one, just say it. Okay, Gwen?”

“A haunted house would be awesome! There are lots of people at the academy who would contribute ideas, like Shawn and the whole zombie thing, not to mention we’d be able to scare hundreds of people!”

“Mike, write that one down.” As chalk started scratching against the board, Celes rose a hand.

“I propose that we open a casino. We could hold tournaments for many different card games, and maybe I could personally compete against a couple of visitors, should we still need the money.”

Almost as quickly as Mike finished writing the first one, he moved onto Celes’ idea. At that moment, Zoey, Hifumi and Fuyuhiko all raised their hands with ideas.

Zoey: “I read somewhere that maid cafes are something popular in Japan, and some schools do those for their school festivals. Maybe one of those?” As soon as she finished, Hifumi let out a noise of excitement before stating his idea.

Hifumi: “As you may well be aware, I was able to sell 10,000 copies of a doujin at my old school festival, which would later lead to me being donned the talent of SHSL Doujin Author. I would be more than willing to do it all over again. Toko Fukawa-dono may also be interested in a similar stall, only with her literature.”

Fuyuhiko: “I guess someone could build a shooting gallery. There could be prizes for people who do it, too.”

Six ideas were on the board by now, the literature stall with a question mark next to it, as Cameron copied the chalkboard notes down into a notebook. “Okay, that’s a lot of good ideas! If anyone else has another idea after the next class gets the list, just ask--”

“Ask me, the vice-president of the School Council, and I’ll pass it onto Taka.”

“…alright. Thank you, Courtney.”

…

**Tuesday – Class 2 (Class Representative – Jasmine)**

Skimming over Cameron’s list, Sammy passed the list over to her friend, replacing the sheet with a chalk.

“The other class came up with six ideas, and most of them are apparently the traditional events you’d have at one of these things. So, who has an idea?”

Topher started. “Because everyone knows us from Total Drama, and last year’s show, we should sell Total Drama merchandise. Think how much money we’ll get from it!”

“Wow Topher, that was actually a good idea,” Jasmine sarcastically replied, while Sammy wrote it down. “Anyone else?”

Mahiru: “There could be a photography exhibition. I’d be able to show some of mine, and maybe that new girl Kitty in the next class could take part?”

Sayaka: “Most schools would stage things like performances, so why don’t we do something like…a fashion show? Also, maybe a stall selling crepes.”

Carrie: “Art requests would be a cool thing, especially for the more artistic students like me.”

…

**Wednesday – Class 3 (Class representative – Chiaki)**

“Does anyone have any new ideas? It’ll probably be harder by now because there are a few ideas already on here. I’ll start us off with one.”

Chiaki took the chalk that Chisa was holding and wrote down something _everyone_ was expecting her to: gaming tournament. “Now to all of you.”

“Ibuki has the perfect idea! All the musicians of Hope’s Peak Academy put on a showcase performance for the visitors! With Ibuki Mioda as the headliner!”

A handful of people sat behind her groaned lightly – either way, because of her sensitive hearing, she still picked it up.

“Anything else?”

“Mind if we see the list?” Chisa displayed the list on the board, while Kiyotaka passed round a written copy of his. As most people received the list, the class muttered things like “damn, that was my suggestion!” or “well I’m out of ideas”. Quite unsurprisingly, however, Ibuki and Kitty both had more.

“Another idea! Ibuki and her bandmates can make clothing to sell at the festival!”

“Oh yeah. Mioda, you sew all your own clothes, right?”

“Yeah! Here’s her latest project!” She leaned over and pulled out a magenta coloured hoodie (the one she’d bought on her shopping day), which had pink/blue patches all over it. The hood also had a couple of buttons pinned onto it.

A few of the girls stared at it impressed, as Chisa smiled and jotted her suggestion onto the board. Kitty then voiced her own idea.

“We’re missing something obvious here! Gundam’s talent could be used for some sort of animal exhibition! And maybe DJ could be part of it too!”

“Good point,” Kazuichi nudged his desk-partner. Gundam just laughed to himself and nodded, with the Twelve Zodiac Generals popping out of his scarf.

“Then it’s decided! We can pass the list on at the end of the day.”

…

**Thursday – Class 4 (Class representative – Sierra)**

“Oh, great!” Sierra groaned. “ _I_ was gonna suggest the merchandise idea!” Her saying stuff like this was what took up the first three minutes of the class’ meeting, as she read over the first three classes’ list.

“Anyway, what have you all got in mind?”

Dawn quickly rose a hand. “I wouldn’t mind doing some kind of fortune telling stand.”

“I agree with that,” Cody added on. “So long as Hiro doesn’t join in.”

“Why not? Sure, his predictions are a load of crap, but at least he’d charge loads of money for predictions.”

“In the long run, this is still Total Drama, so we could be sued. And then Chris will **kill** us.”

“Fair enough,” Sierra took note on her phone. “Yeah, Ella?”

“It would be wonderful if we put together a production, and performed it on the last night of the festival!”

“Can’t believe it,” Sugar said, “but I agree with her.”

“Not everyone in this class would want to do it, but it wouldn’t hurt to join up with other classes.”

“I guess so,” more typing. “Alright, who was the person who had the flea market suggestion?”

“I did,” Ezekiel looked kind of sheepish. “But with all the other ideas I wanna change it, eh.”

“Actually, I think you should still do it,” Miaya/Usami added in. “You could all find some sponsors or old things to bring in, and it could work alongside the merchandise stall.”

“Seriously?”

Cody leaned over to Ezekiel, making sure Sierra wasn’t listening. “Also, if there’s anyone as obsessed as her, they’ll probably wanna buy anything their favourite cast member used to own.”

…

**Friday – Class 5 (Class representative – Geoff)**

“Okay, dudes. We may be last, and almost every idea may have been said, but we can still do this!”

“Can you _show_ us the list, Geoff? It would help us get started.”

A few moments later, a display of the sheet was projected onto the board. The class read over the suggestions, until Mondo had an idea.

“Nobody’s said karaoke, have they? I guess that could be kinda fun.”

Half the class gave him a weird look. “You…like that kind of thing?”

“Don’t judge me.” In the meantime, Geoff wrote the idea on a separate piece of paper, when he noticed Shinjiro giving it a weird look.

“Something wrong, Shinji?”

“There’s only two food options on here. Even Akane didn’t say anything?”

“That’s a good point. So does that mean you have an idea about it?”

“Two. The first is the Endurance Run event again.” He paused as Geoff wrote it down. “As for the food, why have separate stalls set up all over the place, when we can just put loads of them together? The café can go in a classroom, but other stalls can be made into some kind of street, with loads of benches set up at the end of the street. Like some kind of food Victory Road!”

Amidst all the agreements, Harold soon stood up pointing at Shinjiro. “Kill la Kill reference!”

“The man gets me!” They high-fived.

”Then at the end of today, I’ll give Taka the list. Great work, guys!”

 

By that weekend, November 21st, Tomoko was sat in the lounge while constantly flipping through phone tabs, with Ian watching in the meantime. Shinjiro was still watching Assassination Classroom in the corner.

“What exactly _are_ these things you keep looking at?”

“Presents for Ibuki’s birthday. Next Friday. And I have no clue what kind of things she’d like.”

“Well what have you got in mind?”

“It took a lot of internet searching, but I found some of the most fun and outlandish stuff possible.” She tapped on the first tab, which displayed a Hawaiian style shirt, which the net was calling an Iroha T-Shirt.

“Well, that’s okay, I guess.”

“The next two are a little more sensible,” it was a pair of advanced headphones, a good gift for the SHSL Musician, followed by “Tips & Tips”, which looked like a book to do with game cheats and such. “Most of these are more expensive, and I still have no idea how much to spend on her.”

“What other ideas are there?”

“This…I guess?” Something called Wild Palm Treez appeared on the display. “I found a video of it somewhere and spent a whole hour trying to find one. Apparently, they dance to that _In The Summertime_ song.”

“I can see Ibuki liking all of these, but do you have any idea whether she has any of them or not?”

“Not a clue.” One by one, Tomoko looked back over each one of them, making a mental note of the prices. “I think all of these will work. Maybe two for her birthday, and then another two next month for Christmas. What do you think?”

“Sounds like a plan. Wait, what’s that tab for?”

Tomoko waited until after she had added each item to her basket before she tapped on the last one. “Thought I might as well buy the next Assassination Classroom. I’ve been holding out for two weeks! By the way, I know you’re the mediator, but where exactly is Shinji up to?”

“Some part about a trip to Kyoto. A group of characters were ambushed by some other students.”

“YES!” Ian was taken aback by this sudden yell from his fake sister. “I’m actually ahead of the SHSL Anime Fanatic!”

“Okay, get a grip, woman.”

“Sorry. But it really is a good series, anime or manga. If you have time, I recommend reading it in English, or watching the show.”

“Okay. I’ll think about it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: Sayaka makes a long-awaited phone call, and there's another period of investigation.


	12. Idols and Uprisings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sayaka finally gets into contact with her old friend, while Tomoko learns about one of Hope's Peak's darker secrets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I lied a while back. Hopefully, the NEXT chapter should be the last crappy one.

Well over a month passed, and due to the fantastic speed both of his “siblings” were getting through the series at, Ian had been forced to call a cease-view for the holidays. In the meantime, Tomoko decided to watch some of the anime, while Shinjiro just kept expanding his anime watch list (when he wasn’t still working, anyway). He himself had seen the first two episodes, and he had to admit, they both had pretty good taste liking it. Using the distractions, he decided to finish off his Christmas shopping for the two of them.

He just lay slumped on the sofa, scrolling through pages and pages of items, when he got a message through from Sayaka.

“Okay…this is new.” He tapped on the notification.

[Sayaka]: _Hi Ian!_

[Ian]: _Hey, no offence but since when do you message me?_

[Sayaka]: _I know it’s sudden, but it’s about your sister._

[Sayaka]: _I’m finally going to talk to her!_

[Ian]: _That’s great and all_

[Ian]: _But what does that have to do with me?_

[Sayaka]: _I was wondering if you wanted me to pass on anything?_

Looking down at the response, he almost laughed.

[Ian]: _if you knew us, I’m sure you’d already have an answer_

[Sayaka]: _…so that’s no?_

[Ian]: _Exactly._

[Sayaka]: _okay, but if you change your mind, just drop me another message!_

[Sayaka]: _see you at school! :D_

[Ian]: _Yeah._

He pocketed his phone, thinking about whether he’d come off as a little harsh towards Sayaka with those text messages. Tons of people knew that they didn’t get on very well – probably the same level as Amy and Sammy. Sure, a few years ago they got on like normal siblings, but as they got older and Tess got _that channel_ , she began to act like he never existed, and whenever she did, treated him like a doormat.

Clearly the reason she’d dialled it back after going onto Total Drama Academy was so she could get people to like her. He hadn’t needed to tell Shinjiro and Tomoko the full details. Just that quick couple of minutes with the latter (while Kiyotaka was there) was enough for the two to notice something was up with them.

Out of nowhere, he then pulled out his phone again and went to his previous conversation with Sayaka.

[Ian]: _Actually, there is something you can pass on to her._

…

Sharing an apartment with friends had both its advantages and disadvantages. Sayaka had living arrangements with Junko and Mukuro, and their room was directly beside Ibuki and Sonia. While she was waiting for her friend to call, the girls had chosen this night to start being loud. Mukuro was having some sort of mini workout in the corner, Junko had a rather large phone call with…maybe Heather, and some overly loud horror film could be heard through the narrow walls between Ibuki’s apartment, and Sayaka’s.

By the time Sayaka’s phone began vibrating in her hand, she had the latest message from Ian near enough committed to memory, so she answered the call.

“Hello? Can you hear me?”

_“…ka? Are y…re?”_

“One second!” The idol yelled down the phone, unlocking the door to her apartment and running out of the flat, coming to a stop outside and cursing the fact that she forgot to grab a coat. “Ah, that’s better. Can you hear me now?”

_“Yeah. What was all that noise?”_

“Mioda-san and Sonia-san next door are having some kind of horror movie marathon. Anyway, it’s been way too long! You said you’d stay in touch, you know.”

_“I know. I know. Sorry, but dealing with all the sponsors and all that crap…”_

“You were busy, I guess I understand that.”

_“Anyway, what have you been up to since I’ve been away?”_

“It’s more like my old high school life now. Way more fun!”

_“How so?”_

“There are clubs, a few stores in the city, cool teachers. We’re even planning a school festival for the end of the year!”

_“And I’m guessing it’s open to the public. Maybe I should drop in and say hi if I have time.”_

“That would be great! Although I have no idea what kind of stall I’m doing yet.”

_“What ideas did the class come up with?”_

“There was art requests, a performance, and a photo exhibition. We still don’t know what everyone else has picked yet.”

 _“Well, I’m sure whatever you do, it’ll be a hit.”_ On the other end, Sayaka heard yelling coming from a few people. _“Jeez, I think I might have to go now. Before the bar gets violent.”_

“You’re allowed to drink?”

_“No, I just look old enough and have enough fame around here to get in. Well, if that’s everything…”_

“Wait. There is one other thing. It’s a message from your brother.”

_“…”_

“Still there?”

 _“Yeah. Okay then. What does he want to say?”_ She couldn’t have sounded less interested.

Sayaka cleared her throat (which had actually been an instruction from Ian himself) before starting: “I don’t have to be scared of you anymore. I have classmates who respect me, who I can easily call my friends. I have two people in my life who are more of a family to me than I can say about you. My life is happy, and I can finally be myself without anyone controlling my life. So if you think of coming back to make my life hell again, let’s just say you won’t be impressed with the results. That’s it.”

_“…I see.”_

“Anything you want to say to him?”

_“Sayaka, you may be my friend, but sometimes you can be really naïve.”_

“Hey!” On the other end of the line, Tess actually laughed at her reaction. “Anyway, it’s getting late now, so I’m gonna go back.”

_“Okay. Hope to hear from you again soon, and happy holidays!”_

“And you!” Tess hung up before Sayaka could, which finally allowed her to properly think on what Ian had wanted her to say. She’d probably have to talk with him about it later.

After making sure her phone was secured, she glanced up and happened to see what looked like Kyoko and Tomoko walking somewhere. _Weird seeing those two at this time…_

 

* * *

 

_Half an hour earlier…_

“Kirigiri-san,” Tomoko said, taking a sip of tea, “you may have made this room look nicer, but it’s still freezing!”

“I understand that, but we’re running low on funding. Furthermore, it would seem strange if this floor received priority over the other places in school.”

“I get it, but still…”

“For now, we have to put up with it. Did you come up with anything new since the last session?”

“Well, it’s a long shot, but maybe Hinata-kun had something to do with the killings of the Reserve Course. But that seems impossible to me, so I’m guessing he did get promoted to the Main Course. As for the Student Council, there’s fourteen people in this folder, so why did it say only thirteen people died? Does that mean one of them is actually still alive somewhere?”

“No. All of them died. The student council president, Soshun Murasame, was murdered by another student _after_ that event.”

“Right. Okay.” Taking another drink of tea, she thought to herself. “Anyway, so this Izuru Kamukura was the one who initiated the Student Council killings, the school tried to conceal it from the rest of the students, and someone made the information public. Then, the “uprising” happened.”

“That sounds about right.”

“With all this in mind, I think I have another theory. Since Hinata-kun got promoted to the Main Course, he may have happened to find out what had been going on. My guess is he would have wanted his former classmates to know the truth, so he passed it on, which led to the rest.”

“The way you just phrased all that made it seem quite stupidly founded,” as Tomoko was about to argue back, Kyoko continued, “but well-founded at the same time. It’s always a possibility.”

“The detail in this manga is pretty minimal. Is there anything else here with information on this “uprising”?”

Kyoko handed over a newspaper article from 2012, which listed numerous details of the events. Tomoko leaned over the table and read over it, her face getting paler with each sentence: _the Reserve Course students protested and began murdering almost all of the Main Course students…the phenomenon ended up spreading outside of Hope’s Peak Academy, leading to something akin to war…_

_…the Reserve students committed mass suicide in the Aftermath of that event, with the number of deaths totalling 2,357…_

“Oh…oh God.”

“See? What did I tell you last time?”

“Hold on. Weren’t you at the Academy when all of this happened?”

“Yes. Why?”

“If you guys are here, then how come you survived the Reserve Course attack?”

“The headmaster acted in time, and decided to seal my class inside one of the older buildings so we could survive the Tragedy. As for the 77th Class, clearly they must have done the same thing in a different part of the school.”

“Why the uncertainty?” Tomoko noticed it ever so slightly.

“There was never any mention of it while we were sealed in there. We can look more into that next time.”

“Y-yeah,” Tomoko still wasn’t over the content of that news article.

…

“There won’t be any more of these investigations before Christmas, right? I don’t fancy any holiday trauma.”

“No. The next one should be a few days after Christmas break.”

“Okay then. In the meantime, I’ll keep trying to look into it.”

“Kirigiri-san! Fukuhara-san!” From the apartment block, Sayaka was waving at the two girls with her hand in her pocket. Tomoko waved back and Kyoko just smiled at her former classmate.

“Well, goodnight Fukuhara-san.”

“Night.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: we enter 2016, and are thrown immediately into the horrors.


	13. Welcome to Hell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 2016\. Need I say more?

Ah, first day back after Christmas break. Normally, it would be a happy time, being reunited with your friends and all after the holidays. There was a lot of hope that this year, 2016, would go well for them all. And just maybe, school life would be a lot more normal for everyone this time. That’s what the Fukuhara trio were thinking.

“Here’s to a better year than the last!”

“I sure do hope so. I don’t want any more friends to die in suspected murders.” It was meant to be in a sad tone, but came out more sarcastic and dry.

“Let’s just go,” Ian led the way into the entrance hall, finding a couple of large groups, consisting of the people who were more interested in music. David Bowie music was playing through the speakers. Most of them were singing along, some worse than others.

“Uhh, did we miss something interesting on the news?”

“YES! David Bowie died yesterday.”

“The big C.”

Tomoko sighed. “Jeez. This early on in the year?”

“Well, it may not be a friend, but someone did die…OW!” Shinjiro was cut off by a punch to the ribs from his twin, as the trio listened in on the conversations that continued in the background.

“Wait, wasn’t he 69?”

“Uh, yeah, I think s--”

“CONSPIRACY THEORY.”

The three of them had no idea who had said that, but they couldn’t help but groan.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“He died of the big C, and was aged 69. And 69 is the symbol for the Cancer star sign. Coincidence? I think _not_!”

Tomoko looked over at Shinjiro and Ian, who both rolled their eyes. The three of them walked off to Ian’s classroom.

“You had to admit, it was coming all along.”

“Woah, hey!”

“I meant the whole conspiracy theory thing, not David Bowie!”

“Seriously though? A celebrity that iconic dying this early into the year?”

“Well, that’s exactly it. We’re only on the 10th. Surely it can’t get worse, right?”

…

Boy was he wrong.

Another four days later, Thursday 14th January, Shinjiro found vast numbers of students who came in wearing scarves, coloured in red/green/yellow/blue. The death of beloved actor Alan Rickman drove numerous Harry Potter fans over the school – and by extent, the world – into despair. Heck, at the end of the day, all of said fans stuck their pens and pencils into the air like wands. Even in Japan, some popular cosplayer had gone into their school in a Harry Potter cosplay.

Of course, he didn’t dare to bring it up until he was back at home.

“I get that it’s sad, and that there were loads of Harry Potter fans all over the world, but isn’t that a _little_ extreme?”

“Maybe you wouldn’t get it because you aren’t a true fan.”

“And you are?”

“Well, yeah, I’m a fan of the series…”

“Me too.”

“But I’m not _that_ in love with it. At least there wasn’t any more stuff about the conspiracy theories.”

“Yeah, no. Tons of people were going on about how _“two beloved celebrities died of the same thing and at the same age within four days”_ and how God hates us.”

“I think this whole conspiracy theory thing is specifically because of the 69 thing.”

“Our classmates may be famous or talented, but not all of them appear to be that…sharp.”

 

* * *

 

A week had passed since the death of Alan Rickman, and there hadn’t been any other major deaths that had the school in mourning, which was good, since it was the Fukuhara twins’ birthday on the 21st. This year, all they had from other people was $20 each from Ian, some rock CD from Leon between them, and a box of granola bars from Ibuki.

“This is gonna become a recurring theme now, isn’t it?” Shinjiro had said when they opened it.

Other than those, Shinjiro gave Tomoko volumes 4 and 5 for Assassination Classroom, and she gave him a 12 month subscription to one of those anime goods subscription boxes (but no box, that wouldn’t be there until February). Quite surprising – even though they had friends at the academy now, only two of them had got them any kind of birthday present. Shinjiro in particular had tried to drop hints at this fact in school that day.

“Nice day today, right?”

“The temperature is a minus figure, and it’s kind of snowing outside.”

“I know, but something about the day just _feels_ nice, you know?”

“How exactly?”

Shinjiro sighed internally. “Oh you know. Nobody super famous has died today…”

“So far.”

“We might finally get a thicker layer of snow…somebody’s another year older…”

“Obviously. That’s the case every day.”

“I meant someone within the school.”

“Oh, really? Like who?”

“…”

“…”

“Unbelievable. I GAVE YOU CAKE.” Before things could go any further than that, Kizakura entered the room.

“Alright guys, homeroom’s about to start. But before that, I have an announcement from the Student Council here about the school festival.”

The class’ interest was turned towards their teacher.

“Due to the vast amount of ideas that the classes have come up with, we have decided that the classes should be able to integrate, so we are able to do as many of the ideas as possible. Therefore, if you didn’t like any of the ideas your class came up with, you can hopefully find one you like from one of the other classes. As well as that, rather than a typical two day festival, we’ve decided to extend it to a week long. Some sheets will be put up in the entrance hall within the next couple of days, where you can show your interest in running any of the stalls. Keep the planning up!”

The class were clearly happy with this decision, with some of the members eagerly thanking Beth and Sonia.

“Thank God!”

“You two rule!”

“Being the last class to pick was horrible!”

Shinjiro just stayed silent in his seat, wondering exactly how many people in Class 3 knew about the day. That was, until DJ appeared and dropped a small cake in front of him.

“Happy birthday, man. What, why are you looking at me like I forgot?”

Before Shinjiro could thank or hug his friend, Kizakura spoke up, hip flask in hand. “So, you know it’s snowing outside, right? The other classes have gone out to the field to have a bit of fun, so if you wanted to join them--”

With that, every member of the class had made a run for the field at once.

 

* * *

 

“Okay, so many people may have forgotten about our birthday. But at least we got to have a snowball fight!”

“Did you see Courtney and Gwen shove snow down Duncan’s trousers?”

“Sierra put it on the blog, so you can look at it anytime you want.”

The three of them were sat on the sofa watching TV, each one with a mug of coffee/hot chocolate in their hands. Both boys wore endless layers of shirts and hoodies, and Tomoko was in a fluffy pair of pyjamas, while at the same time looking at numerous photos she’d taken during the day: her building a snowman with Ibuki and Kitty; a group of boys in a snowball fight; her with Kiyotaka; and the aforementioned revenge from Courtney and Gwen.

Although the entire world had a feeling 2016 would be a shit year, the last month had treated Hope’s Peak well enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: the examinations are announced, and two more events are planned.


	14. Double Band Group Chat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The title says it all - another Skype chat filler.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fanfic will probably be on a 3 week hiatus thanks to a holiday, but I should have the next chapter drafted out by the time I continue.

As the month of February came, Makoto had called everyone together for another assembly. Nobody really knew what it was for, but it was probably going to be serious.

“As you are all aware, the school has become an official Hope’s Peak high school. Because of this, the school now has an official exam system.” A few of the teens groaned. “However, Hope’s Peak Academy examinations are done very differently to the ones you’re used to. The academy does practical exams based on your talents, rather than standard written tests, and your results in this test will determine whether or not you are able to stay here. The exam won’t be until mid-March, but I decided to give you as much information as possible about what should happen.

“The exams will be judged by four people: one of them being Chris, and the other three being former Hope’s Peak students. There’s a chance that the media will be at the exams to report on you all. Also, because of some of your talents, certain students will be asked to partner up for their exam. If you do end up in this situation, you’ll only be assessed on your individual contributions. Furthermore, for certain reasons, Toko Fukawa and Aoi Asahina won’t be examined.

“Unfortunately, because of the events of the last exam, more rules will be put into place. For starters, everyone will be searched on arrival, in case of weapons, explosives or any such item, although permits will be granted if your talent requires.”

Sky raised a hand. “Uh, what happened in the last exam?”

“Let’s just say that thanks to a series of events caused by…bad luck, the gymnasium exploded and certain students had to be expelled.”

A few suspicious glances were cast towards Nagito, who just kept looking forward with a neutral expression. Scarlett began thinking over what Seiko had told her before.

_“It was a reanimator, which had an effect of performance enhancement. When it was first used, however…let’s just say, a handful of people got crushed by a large Pomeranian.”_

“Maybe Seiko played a part in that event?”

“Did you say something, Scarlett?” Gwen asked quietly.

“Nothing.”

“As I said, the exams aren’t for just over another month, so you still have plenty of time to get ready. That’s all for now.”

As a few people started standing up, Makoto leaned back into the microphone. “Wait!” They stopped moving. “I need a few people to stay behind: Trent, Ian, Nagito, Hina, Toko.”

As those five exchanged a few looks, the rest of them left the gymnasium and made their way back to their classroom. Anyone who had looked at Nagito some seconds ago appeared even more nervous now.

“Hey Hajime,” Noah nudged his shoulder. “You were close with Nagito before coming here. Was it his fault that all of that stuff happened last time?”

“Beats me. Remember I was still in the Reserve Course at the time.”

“Hmm.”

“But I think it’s possible knowing his luck…”

“And here I thought we had to worry about _Chris_ killing us all.”

 

* * *

 

**Skype Chat: The rock band formerly known as nameless [Punk Division] (Gunsandpistols-11037, Ian123, SplendidNakedOfficer, TomoKoroSensei)**

-

 **Gunsandpistols-11037** : heads up guys band practice is cancelled this week

 **SplendidNakedOfficer** : wtf why

 **Gunsandpistols-11037** : I’ve decided to plan a guys day for the three of us

 **Gunsandpistols-11037** : sorry hara, you had yours, and its guys only

 **TomoKoroSensei** : whatever. And don’t call me Hara

 **Gunsandpistols-11037** : I didn’t call you Hara, i called you hara

 **Ian123** : All you did was skip out the capital h

 **Gunsandpistols-11037** : …that’s the point

 **SplendidNakedOfficer** : jeez u r slow sometimes

 **TomoKoroSensei** : please don’t encourage him

 **Ian123** : On the topic of grammar, what’s with your username? Leon

 **Gunsandpistols-11037** : it’s a combi of sex pistols/guns and roses

 **Ian123** : So why not do Sexandroses instead? It’s cooler.

 **Gunsandpistols-11037** : and you know when you write your name with a calculator that’s how you do mine

 **Gunsandpistols-11037** : hey that’s a cool idea. I might just steal that!

**_Gunsandpistols-11037 changed their username to Sexandroses-11037._ **

**Ian123** : That looks better already.

 **SplendidNakedOfficer** : hey Ian isn’t it a certain time of the week?

 **Ian123** : Oh yeah, where about are you two up to with Assassination Classroom??

 **TomoKoroSensei** : the class just got to Okinawa and started their assassination attempt

 **SplendidNakedOfficer** : I see that you’re progressing through the series very well-nu.

 **SplendidNakedOfficer** : you might just stand a chance against me-nu.

 **Sexandroses-11037** : okay how much booze has kizakura been giving you, and how do I get some???

 **SplendidNakedOfficer** : sorry leon, but no alcohol-nu. Ian, please call it-nu.

 **Ian123** : Okay, fine. Shinjiro is leading by…hold on

 **Ian123** : 8 chapters Tomoko

 **TomoKoroSensei** : crud

 **Sexandroses-11037** : come on! When the hell are you gonna swear????

 **Ian123** : Why does the fact that she doesn’t swear concern you?

 **TomoKoroSensei** : I don’t never swear. I only swear in any language except for English and Japanese

 **SplendidNakedOfficer** : y

 **TomoKoroSensei** : because less people understand it, so for leon…

 **TomoKoroSensei** : you Scheißkopf, pudrete en el infierno. Vous êtes une pomme de terre avec le visage d'un cochon d'inde.

 **TomoKoroSensei** : satisfied?

**_TomoKoroSensei has logged off._ **

**Ian123** : wow

 **Sexandroses-11037** : i’ll ask what it means next time i see her

 

* * *

 

**Skype Chat: Ibuki Mioda’s Musical Bootcamp (Rock Goddess, KittyKat, TomoKoroSensei)**

-

 **TomoKoroSensei** : hey guys wanna come over on Saturday

 **KittyKat** : sure thing, I’m okay with that

 **Rock Goddess** : Ibuki is down!

 **Rock Goddess** : wait didn’t Tomoko-chan have band practice with Leon-chan and her brothers?

 **Rock Goddess** : and what happened to the old username???

 **TomoKoroSensei** : they cancelled and decided to have a guys day out instead

 **TomoKoroSensei** : also I changed my user because of AssClass

 **KittyKat** : is that the book that you saw when we went shopping?

 **TomoKoroSensei** : yeah

 **Rock Goddess** : anyway what should we do? And what are they doing??

 **TomoKoroSensei** : no idea. We lost track of conversation after I cussed out Leon in three languages

 **TomoKoroSensei** : roughly translated, I said “you ****head, burn in hell. You are a potato with the face of a guinea pig”

 **KittyKat** : *cue awkward silence*

 **Rock Goddess** : wat

 **TomoKoroSensei** : it was a French insult

 **KittyKat** : I’m surprised I never heard anything like that during the race

 **TomoKoroSensei** : actually in new Zealand I heard a few…colourful insults about the cadets in the room next to mine. Weird, but colourful

 **KittyKat** : I’ll take your word for it

 **Rock Goddess** : on an unrelated note, Ibuki needs a break from exam prep. WHAT CAN WE DOOOOOO???????

 **KittyKat** : idk maybe making chocolates? Cause valentines is not long after

 **TomoKoroSensei** : how do you know about that tradition?

 **KittyKat** : Japanese relations, so I know some of the language and culture

 **TomoKoroSensei** : would have been better to know when we first met

 **Rock Goddess** : yeah let’s do that :D

 **KittyKat** : okay anything else we can do?

 **TomoKoroSensei** : movie night? It’s simple, and means you can stay the night if you want.

 **Rock Goddess** : Ibuki agrees!

 **KittyKat** : then it’s decided

 **Rock Goddess** : besides it means no boys in the house for two whole days

 **TomoKoroSensei** : and I can try getting ahead in my contest, he’s nearing his two week pause between seasons

 **KittyKat** : okay then!

 **Rock Goddess** : i still can’t get over the potato insult

 **TomoKoroSensei** : get over it Ibuki

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Shinjiro using all those -nus on the end of his sentences is a reference to a character from Assassination Classroom  
> Next time: Ibuki Mioda's Musical Bootcamp's girls day  
> See you in three weeks! (Maybe sooner?)


	15. Become Friends: Act 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tomoko, Kitty and Ibuki have their girls day, including movies and Valentine's chocolates.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Change of plans - the place I'm staying at has WiFi in the bar, so I can still upload from my iPad while I'm away.

While waiting for her friends to show up, Tomoko had found the recipe her mom had given her for making chocolates, collected the ingredients, and written out a translated copy for Kitty. She’d also searched through every DVD in the house – including the ones that hadn’t been sorted last year – and had set them in piles (Tess’ old ones that she’d left behind; Shinjiro’s anime collection; Ian/her own ones; and the ones everyone had agreed could be chucked away). She thought it would be best to leave the girls’ options open even more.

Aside from that, she had extra breakfast ready in the kitchen, two futons set up in her room, and a few things set aside for lunch. All this while the two boys were still waiting for Leon to show up.

As the clock neared 11am, the doorbell went off, with two people waiting outside: Leon and Kitty.

“Guys, you ready to go?”

“One second,” came the reply from the lounge, as movement could be heard.

“Hey Kitty, just drop your bag at the top of the stairs.”

“K!” She ran up halfway and threw her bag up. “Woah, cool room!”

“I’ll see you later Tomoko.”

“Have fun. Let me know if you need anything."

...

Not long afterwards, Ibuki arrived and the three girls had got to work on their chocolates, and naturally, one of them had started interrogating the others on their love interests.

“So Ibuki, Tomoko, are you making these for any boy in particular?”

“Nope,” came Tomoko’s very quick answer.

“Ibuki is open to either gender, personally. She’s making these for many people!”

“Really? Who?”

"All of her former classmates, all of her new classmates, etc. etc.”

“And Tomoko,” Kitty looked past Ibuki over to Tomoko, “You don’t have any love interest? Then why are you making them?”

“They’re all for formality. Ian, Leon, Ishimaru...is it inappropriate to give chocolates to your brother? Either way, what about you, Kitty?”

“No love interests. I do have a few formality chocolates I need though,” she started counting them off on her fingers. “Carrie and Devin for letting me stay with them a few times, Noah and Owen, just to name a few.”

“Ibuki’s decided if her chocolates don’t work out, she’ll just buy some off Ruruka-chan.” She kept mixing it in her bowl. “But I doubt Tomoko-chan is telling the truth.”

“Why?”

“She answered within not one second, with a “no” nonetheless. Suspicious.”

“It’s not suspicious. I genuinely don’t have a crush on anyone. How many times do you see me in long conversation with guys who I’m not biologically related to?”

“Leon. Taka. Hmm?”

“Leon has a thing for Sayaka, and we all know it. As for Ishimaru, we’re just friends. Really.”

“I see, I see.”

“I’m being serious, Kitty. We weren’t even that close most of last year.”

“At least Tomoko-chan’s being honest about that.”

“Fine. If you’re not going to listen to me, we’ll just drop the subject.”

As the three of them went back to making their chocolates, Ibuki nudged Kitty and began whispering. “Next time we see Celes-chan, I’ll be sure to ask for her opinion.”

* * *

 

Wanting to kick back for the rest of the day, Tomoko decided to leave out packs of ramen for lunch: it was easy, and all three of them liked it. While they were eating it, however, Kitty had her phone pressed by her ear the whole time.

"Kitty-chan, what are you doing?"

"Trying to get this song in my head. It's for an audition."

"What sort of audition? In school or what?"

"I heard what they're doing for the festival productions. The Western students are doing Heathers: The Musical, while the Japanese students are having one written for them. I'm trying to audition for Heathers."

"Really? That's actually pretty cool. Wait a minute, that's the one _nise-neesan_ wouldn't stop talking about around Christmas."

"Who?"

"Tomoko-chan's fake sister for the show," Ibuki answered while slurping up, in all fairness, way too many ramen noodles.

"Is that really the best production to be putting on for a family school festival?"

"Well, TD fans will have heard Lindsay's swear-a-thon, seen Heather's boobs, and been faced with the fear of the contestants dying. I think they'll know what they're in for."

"...fair enough. We have the musical on DVD somewhere if you want to watch that?"

"Maybe tomorrow morning. I have some recommendations for what we can watch later."

* * *

 

At 3:30, the three girls were gathered in the living room with a rather large stack of DVDs in front of them. On the floor was whatever products Ibuki liked from Ruruka’s shop, and enough coffee and energy drinks to keep the group sustained for the entire night.

“So, for now, we’ve picked the third and fourth Harry Potter movies, and The Addam’s Family. What else could we watch?”

“I don’t know if you’ve seen this one, but whenever I had movie marathons with friends at my old high school, we’d always watch White Chicks, and then whoever was hosting it got to pick the next one.”

“Ibuki has never heard of it.”

“It’s about two black male cops who go undercover as white women to solve a crime. I find it pretty funny, but the Internet doesn’t appear to agree with me. We started the tradition as a joke, because we thought it would suck.”

“What the hell, I’m okay to give it a try. I think Ian might have it somewhere in the pile.”

“While you try looking for that,” Kitty stood up, “Ibuki and I can make smoothies or something. We should save the energy drinks for later tonight.”

“Also, we should order the pizza after the first movie. Ibuki wants to enjoy all the candy first!”

Shouldn’t the candy come after the pizza?

“Okay then. Go ahead.”

…

**4:40 – White Chicks**

“Great, now I’m gonna have _A Thousand Miles_ stuck on replay for the rest of my life. And now they throw in a dance-off?”

“Well, it may look kinda lame now, but just you wait until the boys get in there.” Almost on cue, as the crowds parted, the two lead characters (currently in their disguises) came forwards.

“ _I know you hookers don’t think this is over.”_

“ _Heh! Let’s kick it old-school!”_ The two of them high-fived before busting out into some kind of street dance routine. Tomoko didn’t completely recognise the song, but knew it must have been from the last decade from the way it sounded.

“Kitty was right! I’m gonna try it too!” Ibuki took the centre of the living room and tried dancing along to the music. However, both her friends demanded she put an end to it after she almost kicked the lightshade.

“Maybe when we’re at someone else’s house, okay?”

The musician sighed defeated. “Fine…”

…

**5:55 – The Addams Family**

The only change from last time was that now there was a large pepperoni pizza lying in front of them.

“Somehow, this film makes me feel like I’m on the Race all over again.”

“Let me guess. The Addams’ remind you of the Goths.”

“Wednesday especially.”

“Is Wednesday the little girl with the braids?”

“Yeah.”

“She’s like a hybrid of Mukuro-chan with Celes-chan. Ibuki’s enjoying this film!”

Kitty reached over for a slice of pizza, before quickly snapping a photo on her phone. “I think we should start on the coffee and energy drinks now.”

“Are you sure it’s safe to do it? I don’t really want to leave Ibuki alone with energy drinks.”

“Think of it this way. It won’t be as bad as it would be if Izzy was here.”

“Meh. I guess so.”

…

**7:40 – Prisoner of Azkaban**

“Hey, before we start the last one, I have an idea!”

“What?”

“Let’s bring our futons and pillows downstairs, so we can go to bed here if we want to."

"I have a feeling that with all the energy drinks and coffee, you won't _want_ to go to bed. But I'm okay with that."

"As long as it's cleared up before the boys get back home."

"Everyone be quiet! Listen to this!" Because this DVD had the option to play it in Japanese, they decided to do that with English subtitles. For some reason, because of this, Ibuki was interested in Stan Shunpike (the Knight Bus driver).

"What about him?"

"Doesn't he sound like Fuyuhiko-chan?"

A short pause as he spoke again. "Oh my God, yeah!"

"You can hear the resemblance."

...  
  
**10:00 – Goblet of Fire**

"Great, what a way to finish the evening. Crying over Cedric Diggory."

"Nobody cries more over it than the people from my old school." Kitty said.

"What do you mean?"

"Whenever two people in my old friendship group got into a fight, I'd finish it by listing off every Harry Potter character who died."

Tomoko grinned. "You are the devil incarnate, my friend."

"Yeah, they either break down or turn on me. It's always fun to do!"

"Shut up! I wanna see this!"

"Haven't you seen this one before?"

"Nope! Ibuki's only seen the first three."

"Are you being serious right now?!"

"Maybe on another day, we could try and watch the other four films together. Not tonight though."

"How come?"

"Because this one won't be done until midnight!"

* * *

 

With every film on the list finished, the three girls huddled into their beds - that had been moved downstairs - and all three of them struggled to get to sleep.

"Nngh...too much energy drink."

"I'm too tired to watch another movie, but I'm not tired at the same time."

"At least I can read my manga for a bit. Anything to get ahead." She picked up a book with a pale blue cover. The smile on the front still creeped out Kitty, however.

"You said the guys were doing something similar to what we did, right?"

"Yeah."

"I wonder what exactly they got up to..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: the guys have their day out.  
> Update should be out in two or three days now.


	16. Bonding Between Band Bros

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The guys have their day out, consisting of arcades and searching for a present.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it turns out the place I said has wifi is now closed, so the next update will probably be Friday.

With none of the boys able to legally drive yet, they’d settled on catching a bus into the city. Since Leon had been running late, they’d managed to catch said bus by the skin of their teeth.

Leon wore a long-sleeved lime green plaid shirt, as well as the usual jeans. Ian’s outfit was somewhat reminiscent of Makoto’s casual clothing: green hoodie and a black blazer, plus moss green jeans and black sneakers. Shinjiro was in a red t-shirt with black horizontal stripes, jeans, a red scarf, and a black Kill la Kill beanie with stars on it (which he’d received from his first anime goods box of the year).

“So then Leon, what exactly have you planned for the day?”

“Nothing, really. There is something I’m looking for anyway.”

“And what would that be?”

“A White Day present for Sayaka.”

“Even though _Valentine’s_ Day hasn’t even happened yet.”

“I wanna be prepared in case it does happen!”

“Okay then.”

“Anyway, where does everyone want to go first? I saw an arcade around here once, so it might not be all that crowded at the moment.”

“Good idea. May be able to find something there for Sayaka!”

Leon went on ahead, leaving the other two boys together. Shinjiro nudged Ian and leaned over. "I hate to be _that guy_ , but he doesn't stand a chance."

"Damn right."

* * *

 

The moment they got to the arcade, Leon was prepared to splash everything he had in his wallet on finding that perfect present for Sayaka. Fortunately for him, there were about ten of those claw machines in a row right at the back.

"Well, I don't how I feel about watching this train wreck. If you need me, I'll be over there." Shinjiro pointed towards the shooting games, while Ian followed Leon.

"Hopefully this'll go better than that trip back in Japan."

"What do you mean by that?"

"They had this place back home with only claw machines. It was almost like a school that taught you how to win prizes."

"And I'm guessing it didn't go all that well?"

"Yeah. Also, I've forgotten everything. Anyway, let's start off with this one." Leon put his money into the first one, which had only stuffed toys in. He was no expert, but Sayaka had happily accepted something like it from Makoto a few years ago.

In the meantime, Shinjiro kept on working through the games on the other side, racking up a large amount of tickets after only two games. A few kids, around 11 years old, were staring at him from the games on either side. Unbeknownst to the anime nerd, some of them started nudging each other, grinning devilishly.

Picking up their stuff, one of them ran off to a different game, while the other two approached Shinjiro holding pens and notepads. Dropping his next stream of tickets by his feet, he looked up as they ran up to him.

"No way! It's Ethan from Total Drama Academy!"

"Huh?"

"You're my favourite newbie character! Can I get your autograph?"

"Actually, the name's Shinjiro, but you can call Shinji. And I guess it won't hurt." As he took the first boy's pen and pad, he didn't notice the third member of the group crouching down behind him and scooping up all of his tickets. Sniggering and giving his mates the thumbs up, both boys pocketed their notepads.

"Thanks Shinji!"

"You rule!"

All three of them immediately made a beeline for the exit, heading straight past Leon and Ian, who were on the very last of the claw machines. This was one of the more modern ones that had stuff like selfie sticks and tablets as prizes.

"Are you sure about this? You're down to your last ten dollars, and we haven't even left the first place in town!"

"It's...for...love." Still planning his first move, he glanced around to try and find Shinjiro. "Uh, you seen your brother anywhere?"

"Huh. No. Where did he go?"

...

"That was way too easy!"

"Why didn't we just spend the tickets as soon as we took them?"

"He'd have caught on too easily, duh."

"Let's head back in an hour." The group were stopped when the one in the middle felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning around, they were met with a smiling 18 year old anime nerd, the light reflecting off his glasses. Because of that, his facial expression looked downright haunting.

"Do you take me for an idiot?"

All three boys in the group sweat-dropped.

...

"Well, wherever he is, I'm sure he'll meet up with us soon."

"Okay, last try before I go elsewhere." Leon pressed the button to start his next game. He guided the claw towards a pink selfie stick using the joystick. Once he thought it was lined up, he checked on both sides of the machine if it looked right. Confirming his decision, he slammed down the button. Ian was tempted to hide behind his hands, fearing for the impending result, when...

"Shit, I think I got it!" Opening his eyes, Ian saw the claw lifting the selfie stick up, carrying it towards the box on the other end of the machine. Both boys' faces lit up.

"Hell yeah!"

"Woah, nice job Leon! I don't think either of us expect--"

"Oh, you've gotta be fucking kidding me!"

"Hmm?" Looking back, the selfie stick had dropped literally an inch away from the target, and the look on Leon's face was...meme-worthy, let's just say that.

"Ian," Shinjiro nudged him again, his arms filled with orange slips of paper. "I'd prepare for a temper tantrum coming from him." He made his way towards a prize booth.

"Oh, where were you just now?"

"Chasing after a couple of brats who tried to make a beeline with my tickets."

"Right-- Jesus! How many of those did you win?!"

"Just over twelve thousand. Some of these came from the kids who took mine. Hey, Leon!"

He turned to face him with his fist not far from the glass.

"Quit whining, and get over here. Which one of these do you think Sayaka would like?"

Not even a second later, or so it seemed, Leon was beside the two boys eagerly searching out the perfect gift for her. "We're restricted to 12,500 tickets, by the way."

"Restricted, huh?"

"That looks cute for a girl," Leon pointed out a pale pink scarf with magenta coloured hearts adorning it, which only cost 300 tickets. "I think that would kinda suit her."

"Alright then," Shinjiro pointed it out, before selecting one of those cinema style light boxes to go along with it. "By the way, you owe me something later."

* * *

 

The second place the boys went to was a store dedicated to anime, gaming and all the like, which was mainly intended for Shinjiro's renumeration.

"Why the hell do I still owe you something? What was that thing you got with the other 950 tickets?"

"Something Tomoko was after."

"Fine then. What exactly are you looking for?"

"Try and find something to do with either Kill la Kill or Assassination Classroom."

"Oh right," Ian said. "Where exactly have you got up to?"

"Another person has just joined Class E. Is it alright if I say who?"

"No way! There may be people in the store who don't want anything else ruined for them."

"But if you'd been watching some of the previous episodes, it may be kinda predictable."

"Yeah, yeah. Tell me when I start getting warmer." As Leon walked off with Ian in search of the right merchandise, Shinjiro spotted the release date for the next Assassination Classroom manga in English.

"You're only just starting it, and you already want merchandise for it?"

"What?" A female member of staff had noticed him reading it. "Oh, no. I've actually started watching season two of the anime. Please don't ruin anything for me!"

"Don't worry, it's fine. Anyway, you're going to love watching the rest of it, I guarantee it." She winked. "Who's your favourite so far?"

"Tough call. I'd say either Karasuma or Isogai."

"Really? Not Karma?"

"As the SHSL Anime Fanatic/Analyst, I find him quite an overrated character, as good as he is."

"Well spoken. I'd say my favourite would have to be Nagisa or Professor Bitch. They both end up being completely different to how you'd imagine not long after you first see them."

"Keen eye for development then. Interesting."

"And no matter who your favourite is, you have to love Koro Sensei. It's almost like a rule - everyone who's seen Assassination Classroom loves Koro Sensei!"

"Hey Shinji! Get over here and take your pick!" Ian headed towards the cashier, as Leon showed off the display of merch like it was a prize on an 80s game show. Shinjiro was in front of it almost as fast as Leon had reacted to the arcade prizes.

Ian just scratched the back of his head, laughing. "Hard to believe I'm friends with those two, huh?"

"Wait, weren't the three of you on that last season of Total Drama? Uhh, you're Ian, right? And the other two are Leon and Ethan?"

"That would be it. Also, his real name is Shinjiro. It's a long story."

"Jeez, it's frustrating not knowing how you guys are all getting on now the series is over!"

"Well, if you're interested, we're holding a school festival in a couple of months. It's open to everyone - family, obsessed fans, the whole lot. So if you wanted to stop by and check it out."

"Seriously? Sounds great! I'll be sure to be there!"

"Also, if it's no trouble, do you think you could spread the word to other fans?"

"Of course! Anything to keep Total Drama's popularity up."

"Let's go Ian!"

"Coming! See you there," Ian waved at the staff member as he ran after the other two boys.

* * *

 

Due to that hectic morning the three boys had spent in town, they didn't get round to eating their lunch until almost three, which was making seem more like dinner by that point. It had also been hard to find a place with a small line, that wasn't McDonalds - Shinjiro only wanted to go there when he had work now.

"That reminds me, you don't go as often as you used to at the start of the year. You aren't skipping off, are you?"

"Nope. I'm only called in when someone else is off for any particular reason." While he was eating, he kept on darting between his phone and a large notepad in front of him.

"What exactly are you doing with those? Stuff for the exams?"

"Nope, I've already got that covered. This is something secret. For now."

"It's something to do with anime, isn't it?"

Shinjiro looked up from what he was doing, a face of mock pain on his face. "How **dare** you just _assume_ something like that!"

"It _is_ anime, right?"

"Nope, it really isn't. And for the last time, I'm keeping it a secret until it's actually finished."

"Moving on," Ian took a swig of coffee, "are we gonna do anything for the school festival? We are allowed to do musical performances that showcase our talents."

"It wouldn't hurt to show the fans that the band's still going."

"Yeah. Cool. Awesome."

"What song would we even do though? Japanese or English? And would Tomoko be up for it too?"

"Unless Mioda can steal her away from us, I don't see why not."

"I'll ask her about it when we get back home."

Out of nowhere, Shinjiro started humming some short but upbeat tune, having gone back to his notebook.

"Now I'm even more curious! Seriously, what are you doing?"

Sighing, he eventually gave up hiding it. "Fine. But, you have to promise that you won't tell anyone else in the school. Got it?"

As the other two nodded, Shinjiro leaned into the centre of the table and started whispering...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forgot to mention the subtle fourth wall break with theAssClass spoiler.  
> Next time: find out what Shinjiro was doing, and Valentine's Day


	17. Valentine's Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The cast of the festival productions are confirmed, and chocolates are exchanged.

A week on from that day, was Monday 15th February, also known as the day after Valentine's Day. Since nobody was in school on the actual day, everyone agreed to exchange gifts on the first day after that. In every single class, the students already had chocolates from Ibuki, in a magenta box decorated with blue ribbon; in the end, she hadn't needed to buy anything from Ruruka's shop, but it required a tonne of effort from after that girls day in order to make enough.

In Class 3, Kitty and Ibuki were eagerly waiting for Kiyotaka to show up, staring intently between the door and Tomoko.

"So Kitty, how did your recipients enjoy the chocolates?"

"Not bad. Carrie tried one off the bat, and she said they were great. Noah cracked a smile, and Owen ate the lot in seconds."

"And I think we can all agree that Ibuki did a good job making all these. Right, Ibuki?"

"*stare*..."

"For the last time, Ibuki. It's nothing to be excited about. We. Are. Just. Friends."

"Yeah, that's what they all say at the beginning. Then it evolves."

"Asahina-san! Don't you get involved, too!"

"Besides, it's not like you're one to talk. Didn't you make something there for Shinji?"

Hina's cheeks went slightly red. "Th-they're only for formality. S-shut up!"

Kitty and Tomoko laughed a little, when Ibuki abruptly sprang up from her seat. While watching Hina, Tomoko could hear Ibuki's excited chatting.

"Kiyotaka-chan! Tomoko-chan over here has something to give you!"

Pushing her aside and clearing her throat, Tomoko reached into her bag and pulled out a neat red and white box, two round chocolates sat in the middle of it.

"Ignore Ibuki. They're formality chocolates. As a thanks, I guess, for bothering with me for the last few months. So, yeah, thank you for deciding to be my friend."

"Awwww-- hey!" Kitty was shut up as a pencil case flew from the other end of the classroom.

Kiyotaka took the box off of her. "No, I should be thanking you! This must be the first time in a while I've ever received chocolates from someone."

"Wait, really? Even formality?"

"I guess at the old school we would have had our exams around this time. So most of the class would have been too busy or stressed to think about it."

"I get it. But still, I'm chuffed."

At that moment, Chisa entered the classroom seeming far happier than usual. If that were even possible. "Everyone, take your seats. I'm sure you've all had enough time to exchange presents!"

"Oh right, sensei," Chiaki spoke up. "Did you give anything to your boyfriend...Munakata-san, wasn't it?"

"Kyosuke is quite busy at the moment, since he's the new headmaster of the old Hope's Peak, so hopefully this will make him happier."

...

"Munakata-sensei!" Manami ran into his office, where Juzo was also sat, carrying two parcels. One was flat and rectangular, the other was square shaped. "Deliveries from Canada for you and Sakakura-san!"

"Thank you. Leave them on the desk." Manami did as asked before making her leave.

"Hard to believe Yukizome found the time to send these," Juzo picked up the square one addressed to him, reading the note on top: _"I would have made my own, but I doubt they would have survived the journey. Happy Valentine's Day, Sakakura-san! :D"._ "Chocolates, huh?"

Kyosuke opened his own package, and he couldn't help but smile at the creativity. On top of a dark blue tie was a silver pin for it - on one side was a moon, with the kanji for Kyosuke beside it.

Noticing his smile, Juzo looked over at his present and instantly shared the sentiment. "After everything that's happened, she hasn't changed a bit, has she?"

A pause, and his mood changed again. "R-right." Noticing his change in mood, Juzo then put his real hand on his shoulder.

"My bad Muna-- Kyosuke." He still couldn't stop blushing over the use of his first name. "I guess I kinda forgot about all the darker stuff."

"I understand. I'll admit, I myself have forgotten a few times. That's how quickly things have changed around here."

The two men stayed silent for a while. "We can't forget what we've all been through, but the rate at which things have returned to normal is spectacular."

Both were interrupted from their thoughts by an email from Kizakura, which was short and too the point.

_If your students are coming over to help with our school festival, then one of my students has a script planned for a production:  
アキバレンシーアプロヅクシオン_

* * *

 

"Oh, so you sent it over to the Japanese school?"

_"I had a feeling there wouldn't be much interest over here. We only got Enoshima, Ikusaba and Nidai of all people."_

"At least you got some interest in it."

Unfortunately, Leon only had one guy with him for Valentine's, since Shinjiro got called in for work again.

"Speaking of which, I'm heading over to the music room now."

"And we'll see if Leon's going to get anything," Ian said down the phone.

_"If you can, Ian, film it and I can watch it when I get back."_

"Will do," Ian grinned, much to Leon's chagrin. As they both got closer to the door to the music room door, Leon hung up the phone and began making his way down the hallway. In the meantime, Ian hid round the corner and just watched.

Stood in the doorway was Sayaka and her group: Heather, Lindsay, Junko and Dakota. As he slowly went past, he picked up hints of their conversation, which was likely to be about the newly announced productions.

Dakota: "Did any of you audition for the stuff they're doing for the festival?"

Heather: "I got the role of Heather Duke in the Heathers production."

Junko: "Hah! _The_ Heather only scored the role of the second fiddle Heather!"

Heather: "Laugh all you want. Duke is confirmed to be the meanest and most horrible of all three Heathers."

Lindsay: "And I got the role of McNamara! Toni would be so proud we got parts!"

Heather: "It's Tess. And why am I not surprised?"

Sayaka: "I got a small one in Shinjiro's idea. It's something called Akibaranger."

Junko: "Not a clue what it's about, but it's bound to be nerdy."

Sayaka: "And oddly enough, the character has the same name as me."

Dakota: "I auditioned but I don't know if I got a part."

Sayaka: "I was just about to go to the entrance hall, so I can have a look if you want."

Dakota: "Sure, go ahead."

Before any of them could notice him eavesdropping on them, Leon quickly made a beeline for the entrance hall himself.

...

He'd be lying if he'd said he hadn't wanted to see what kind of production his friend had planned. And he was more than a little surprised when he found out the cast list:

 _Akagi - Shinjiro Fukuhara_  
_Mitsuki - UNDECIDED_  
_Yumeria - UNDECIDED_  
_Hakase - Mukuro Ikusaba_  
_Sayaka - Sayaka Maizono_  
_Malshiina - Junko Enoshima_  
_Abaramushi - Nekomaru Nidai_  
_Extras - IN PROGRESS_

 

"Jeez, he really didn't get much interest, did he? Maybe I should sign up as an extra just to humour him."

"That would be a nice thing to do."

"Gwah! Maizono-chan!" Leon spun around, quickly straightening out his uniform. "F-fancy seeing you here!" He could swear he saw Ian hidden in a corner face-palming.

"I'm not sure what exactly it's about myself. Shinjiro-kun said it was only a small role, either way."

"Yeah, why not. So, what exactly are you doing down here?"

"Well, I decided to check the cast list for Heathers for the others in the group. But since we're both here..." Sayaka then reached into her school bag and pulled out a very small box of chocolates. Leon stared at them, feeling his cheeks go red.

As Sayaka handed them over, from behind her, Ian pulled out his phone and set it to video mode.

* * *

 

"We apologise for the delay, but enjoy your meal and please come again!" As his last customer for the day left, Shinjiro sighed and headed back to the break room. "Don't any of these people have school?"

Opening his locker, he found a video on his notifications from Ian. Not realising he was smiling, he tapped on it, and had to do everything possible to keep himself from laughing out loud.

Sayaka was stood awkwardly, smiling politely at Leon, who was repeatedly banging his head against one of the entrance hall pillars. A box of chocolates was in one hand while he did this, so clearly it was out of happiness.

The moment it finished, Shinjiro rung up his brother.

_"I take it you saw the video?"_

...

_"Even if he did receive chocolates from her, I knew there would be one thing worth watching."_

"She even told me afterwards that they were only for formality, and shop-bought from Ruruka."

_"At least it wasn't run-of-the-mill ones from some supermarket."_

"Yeah." Ian himself was also checking over the Heathers cast list while on the phone.

 _Chandler - Dakota_  
_Duke - Heather_  
_McNamara - Lindsay_  
_Martha - Sammy_  
_Ram - Topher_  
_Kurt - Lightning_  
_Ms. Fleming - Courtney_  
_Extras - Kitty, Harold, Cody, Bridgette, Mike_

 "Since Leon's still in the infirmary, do you think I should wait until his birthday to give the video to Sierra, or just do it now?"

 " _Heh. Bro, you may be quiet as hell, but you can be pure evil on the inside."_

 "I know. Believe me when I say this, too. They may think I'm quiet now, but when we get to the school festival..."

 _Veronica - Gwen  
_ _J.D - Ian_

 "...they won't know what hit them."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I joined the DR x Heathers craze at last (only this one is Total Drama x Heathers).  
> Also, Akibaranger is a Japanese tokusatsu based off of Super Sentai - the show that Power Rangers was adapted from - which is based towards teens and otaku, instead of families and young children.


	18. Preparing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A chapter about the time just before the exams start, which I'm not proud of.

While most people were organising their exams, the newly selected cast for Heathers (organised by Topher) were in early rehearsals. However, there were a few complaints among the cast already.

Gwen: "No offence, but this really isn't my kind of thing."

Lightning: "I hear you. Lightning doesn't sing, and Lightning doesn't act!"

Neither of them had auditioned for it, but rather Topher selected them based on their personalities.

"Both your roles are perfect for you. Veronica may be the lead, but she's an outsider with a developed desire to bring down the popular girls. It's like a darker version of Mean Girls. As for you, Lightning, Kurt Kelly is the quarterback of the football team."

"Yeah, okay, I'll give the script a read-through."

"Quarterback? Lightning is in!"

"I can't believe that was all it took to get him to agree to it," Gwen said as he walked off reading the script (as best as he could). "What are you going to do if he can't read the script?"

"Meh, Lightning and Kurt are almost the same, so I guess I could get him to improvise."

Gwen then looked over towards where Ian was. He was still reading through the script, since he didn't appear until after two musical numbers.

"Alright, everyone in position for the first number!"

"Another thing," Gwen said. "Why _did_ you put Ian into this? Sure, I get that he can sing, being a songwriter, but acting? I didn't think he'd be that confident."

Topher just smirked, joining the others on the stage. "Just you wait until Act 2." He then moved to the back of the stage, directing the rest of the group into position, with Gwen not knowing what to expect.

"So, everyone should have listened to the music they were given, right? I know that some of the language was quite...disturbing, but we _are_ giving fair warning to the audience, don't worry.

"Gwen, you ready to start?" She just nodded, and with that, Topher had his finger ready on the CD player remote in his hand.

Clearing her throat, Gwen then started reading off the script. "September 1st, 1989. Dear Diary..." the music started, "...I believe I'm a good person. You know, I think there's good in everyone. But, here we are, first day of senior year! And, uh, I look around at these kids I've known all my life and I ask myself, "What happened?""

...

By the end of rehearsal, Ian was kind of irked that he hadn't been able to get on the stage for real yet, only acting as an extra (since five was nowhere near enough). Regardless, he was impressed with Topher's casting choices.

He passed through the entrance hall, noticing Leon lingering in front of the production cast lists, a pen in his hand. Curious, he approached him.

"And here I thought you'd be preparing for the exams. What are you even doing?"

"Thinking about whether I should sign up as an extra for Shinji's thing. No idea what I'd be doing though."

"Well, if it's only as an extra, then I'll do it too." Ian took the pen off him, writing his name under the word EXTRAS. Leon then followed suit, when Hifumi passed behind them.

"Oho, so the two of you are interested in Shinjiro Fukuhara-dono's masterful work, too?"

"Well, I dunno about "masterful", but yeah. Wait, _too_?"

Ian then looked over the list once more, noticing Hifumi's name written above his own. "Yeah, he's signed up as an extra too."

"If Yamada signed up for this then..." Realisation struck him hard. "This must be one of the nerdiest creations in the world."

* * *

 

Due to the intense preparations going on all over the place, not everyone was in their homerooms in order to focus more. Tomoko was one of them, who was sat in the library with headphones and a book which was written in a different language.

While shopping for manga, she'd found one of the Harry Potter books published in German, so had decided to buy that too for study purposes. The way she was preparing was reading the book while playing the audiobook in either English or Japanese (the former was easier to find, however). Sure, it wasn't for the exam, since as an intern she had no idea what to expect. Instead, she saw the preparation time as an opportunity to help her keep home teaching.

Due to the dual distraction, it took her a while until she could spot Kyoko entering, a few folders under her arm. She did eventually look up to see her at the same table, but had to finish the page and pause the recording before she could acknowledge her.

"Kirigiri-san. Shouldn't you be teaching a class right now?"

"They're all preparing for their exams, so I don't have to do much. But just in case, I left them with Hagakure-kun."

"God help them."

"Harry Potter, hm? Is that book in German?"

"Yep. This one's the Chamber of Secrets. It's one of the most helpful ways for me to learn other languages: read something foreign, and listen to it in English."

"Although English is your second language too. Impressive."

"Well, only because I can't find any audiobooks in Japanese for this."

"That wasn't the reason I was looking for you, though. It's about our investigations." Tomoko just leaned forwards a little. "Because of exams, I understand you might not have had enough time to carry on with it. So until a couple of weeks afterwards, we'll postpone our sessions."

"That's fine with me. To be fair, I haven't been able to come up with many other theories. And the Student Council profiles don't provide an awful lot now that I think about it."

"I'll be sure to find more things to help with it before the next session. Sorry for interrupting."

"It's fine," Tomoko put her headphones back on and continued listening to the track, as Kyoko left the library. Surprisingly, she found Byakuya waiting next to the doorway.

"Investigations, huh? And you've been keeping them a secret because...?"

"It isn't a secret. We both lived through it."

"The Tragedy? Are you insane?! Do you know what will happen when she learns about..." He looked around the halls quickly, "...that?!"

"That won't happen until I make it happen. Besides, I can trust her with this. I know that I can."

"As long as you know what exactly you're doing, because if the rest of the school find out...hold on, why investigate something that's been answered already?"

"It would be interesting to find another viewpoint on the matter," Kyoko left her former classmate with that, before he stopped her once again.

"One last thing. Why exactly do you trust Fukuhara so much?"

A few moments passed until Kyoko turned round to face him again.

"You know why already, Togami-kun."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who don't know, the song that Gwen was starting was Beautiful, obviously from Heathers.  
> Next time: the practical exams


	19. Examination Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The practical exams are underway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHAT?! 3500+ words?!  
> Also, some are longer or better written than others.

While usually only a handful of people occupy the gym at a time, on this day, the seats were chock full of media reporters - from local paper journalists, to the national news. Hell, it was possible that a few Japanese reporters were there too!

On the stage at the front was a table, with four examiners for the event: founder of the Neo Hope's Peak Chris McLean; Japanese Hope's Peak headmaster Kyosuke Munakata; and former students Ruruka Ando and Ryota Mitarai. A few seats were situated in front of the seats that were already set up, intended for the waiting members of whichever class was there.

Waiting outside for their turn was Class 1, and a couple of people noticed one of their own missing from the group.

"Kuwata," Fuyuhiko appeared behind him, "is Ian coming with us or what?"

"He's doing his exam with Trent in Class 4, so he's not going until later on."

"Alright then." The two of them were stopped by two awfully large men. One of them was Juzo, the head of security at the other Hope's Peak. The other one...wore a bull mask. Fuyuhiko recognised the two of them, but Leon was confused as hell.

"Security check. Naegi already explained it to you, but we don't want a repeat of the last exam."

Both boys handed their bags to the men in front of them, who eventually sent them along. Fuyuhiko's inspection took a bit longer, however, which confused Leon even further.

"The hell was that for? Does he hold something against you or what?"

"Probably just because of my talent," Fuyuhiko effortlessly lied.

* * *

 

The way they went through everyone in these exams was purely random, so the first person to go was **Gwen**. Naturally, being the first resulted in all kinds of pressure, but Gwen was one of the people who'd be done just as soon as she'd started. All she had to do was show off a piece of artwork and probably answer questions on it.

"Alright, Gwen. I've seen what you can do on the show already, so let's see what you've got for us this time."

"With pleasure," pulling the sheet off of her canvas, a highly familiar painting was revealed - the one of Chris that Gwen had recreated in Total Drama All Stars. The three Japanese judges were impressed, but Chris tapped the animator on the shoulder.

"Ryota, go ahead and smell it for me, will you?"

"What?! Why would I do that?"

"Just do it. And if you can smell bear poop, mark it as a fail."

"Don't listen to him," Kyosuke and Gwen both added at the same time.

...

Following on from that was **Hifumi**. He'd passed his doujin over to Ryota, who was the person in charge of his exam (what with the theme of anime between the two of them). As expected, it was based on his favourite anime series - _Demon Angel☆Pretty Pudgy Princess_.

"Yamada-kun, the attention to detail with the actual series is impressive!"

"Why, thank you Ryota Mitarai-dono! I didn't know you were a fan of the series, too."

"I'm the SHSL Animator, so why wouldn't I?"

Beside him, Ruruka began to get bored, and they were still on Class 1. "Jeez, this is an exam, not a mother's meeting."

His phone under the table, Chris was researching this anime they were discussing. " _Demon Angel☆Pretty Pudgy Princess_...it's apparently a magical girl anime aimed at the young female demographic."

"I don't intend to question it any further, but why would he have a love of a girls anime?"

"I dread to imagine what'll happen by the time we get to Shinjiro."

* * *

 

 **Mahiru** had been set up with a whiteboard, as well as a projector which was displaying a presentation of different photos she'd taken - some of outside, some of her classmates. The presentation itself didn't involve much, only showing photos and talking about them.

One of the nicest photos she showed off was a photo of the beach with the sunset reflecting on the water. However, what really got people talking was the photos of themselves that were on the board. Most of the Class 3 students who were waiting on the seats - as well as 4 and 5 who were watching over a TV screen, were able to talk about it much louder than the people in the gym.

"If we have a yearbook, these photos better go in there!"

"Who knew I could look this good in a photo?"

"Hey Tomoko, she really got you and Taka good. The light in the background too..."

"Why yes, Koizumi-kun captured it perfectly!"

"Ishimaru, you poor, innocent soul."

"Kitty, if you're implying what I think you're implying..."

She just turned back to the screen, leaving Tomoko slightly more p'd off than before.

...

To make way for the next exam, the whiteboard and projector were pushed over to the side. Standing up from one of the seat and proudly walking into the middle of the gym, was **Hiyoko**. She was in a pink kimono (rather than the yellow one with the rose pattern she now wears as her uniform), with a red obi, and still had her hair in one ponytail. She had _kanzashi_ in her hair, as well as a cat patterned fan inside her sleeve.

On the examiners' cue, **Beardo** who was behind the stage dimmed the lights in the gym and started the music - technically, he was only the SHSL Beatboxer, but being a DJ too, he was good at theatre electronics.

A very old sounding, classic Japanese track began playing through the speakers, and the other students watched as Hiyoko gracefully danced with the fan. She managed to maintain a calm demeanour throughout the whole thing, which nobody from the Canadian group could honestly expect from her, given the way that she always behaved in school.

As she finished off her performance and the music came to an end, Hiyoko closed her fan and tucked it back into her kimono sleeve, the lights came back up, and everyone watching was still amazed. Bowing politely to the examiners, she ran towards Mahiru and took the seat beside her.

"Who's up next, Koizumi-nee?"

Before she could answer, **Sayaka** came up to a microphone that had been set up. Like Hiyoko, she was in a different outfit: a sleeveless pink/white dress, as well as a matching ribbon in her hair and knee-high boots. Immediately, almost everyone perked up.

"I will be performing a song by my own idol group, so please listen to _Monochrome Answer_!"

Still, Beardo was in charge of lighting, and instead of a darker atmosphere, it was close to a disco, causing most of the boys to get up and fawn over the idol. While all this went on, Hiyoko glanced over Mahiru's shoulder to see her flicking through the pictures on her camera, all of which were of the exams. She couldn't help but be almost moved to tears after seeing the photos of herself dancing - there were about 20 of them, each one of them seemingly better than the last.

"Woah, Koizumi-onee! I knew you were amazing at taking photos, but these ones look...beautiful!"

"I'm glad you like them," she smiled, turning her attention back to Sayaka's song.

* * *

 

 **Kazuichi** had to do his exam immediately after Nagito, which would normally have him stressing out big time. Fortunately, the nature of his exam meant he didn't have to start off in front of the examiners. Chef Hatchet was filming him stood in front of a highly modified car, alongside Izzy and Hajime. The whole thing was being broadcast to the gymnasium.

"So for my exam, I decided to build something like a rocket car. Originally, this was Chris' old car, but I decided to take it off of him to create this. Izzy and Hinata will be riding it from here to the school, without any part of it falling off."

The two of them climbed into the seats, looking at the mechanic expectantly.

"What?"

"You don't think you're staying here, do you?"

"Well, obviously."

"Didn't you hear, though? If you don't ride it with us back to the school, it's an automatic fail." Hajime smirked.

"Say what?! I was never told about this!"

Izzy poked her head round. "Come on, Dr. Pepper! It'll be fun!"

Gulping and fearing for what was to come when he reached the school, he was left with no option but to squeeze in next to Hajime, Izzy clearly looking forward to when it was going to start.

With Chef still filming from the outside, he pressed the button that Kazuichi had previously been holding, starting the engine of the car.

In almost an instant, the vehicle lurched back slightly before being propelled down the road towards the school. On the outside, if you listened closely enough, then you might've been able to hear Izzy's screams of happiness and Kazuichi's screams of terror.

...

The three had arrived safely in the end, and both passengers exams appeared to have gone successfully afterwards. On the downside, Kazuichi couldn't stop himself from being sick on the gym floor. **Tomoko** , who had followed after the three of them, would have been praying that someone's talent was secretly the SHSL Janitor or something...if she wasn't outside, too.

All there was for her exam was an assault course type thing, clearly made up of various challenges from past seasons of Total Drama. She just had to run the whole thing in under three minutes, which was an easy feat for her. She'd had to do the Salad Spinner from TDAS, Bouncy Butts from TDROTI, and even the greased log from Pahkitew. Regardless, she'd done it with half a minute to spare. As she walked inside towards her seat, reaching into her bag, Chris turned off the live feed.

"Sometimes I forget about what I put those-- wait, why's she putting on headphones?"

Chris got his answer as **Ibuki** walked past Tomoko, giving her a thumbs up and carrying an electric guitar...with a flamethrower?!

"Hello everyone!" She shouted into the microphone. "Ibuki Mioda here! For my practical exam, I will be performing an original song for you! So get ready for, _I Squeezed the Baby Out But I Have No Idea Who the Father Is_!"

Fire spouted from Ibuki's guitar as she started playing and screaming down the microphone again, and everyone watching saw why the flamethrower was necessary - in front of her was a rack of _yakiniku_ , which rang bells for most of her previous classmates.

Speaking of which, while most of the students were horrified by the music, Izzy, Hiyoko and Tomoko were the three who were doing the most okay.

"So _that's_ what that song sounds like. I see."

"I hope she brings all that food up for us afterwards!"

* * *

 

As Class 4 started their exams, the students of Class 3 were tucking into their _yakiniku_ skewers, courtesy of Ibuki.

Leading the pack for the class was **Dawn** , who seemed perfectly calm about her exam. On the other hand, Kyosuke and Ruruka were a little judging of her talent.

"So you're the SHSL Aura Whisperer? What does that mean?"

"Exactly what it sounds like. I see people's auras."

"So you're like a psychic or something?" Ruruka spoke in a harsh tone.

"You don't have to doubt my talent that much, just because you own high school life causes you to not trust other people."

"What? How do you--?!"

"Your aura is predominantly pink, but with a hint of blue. You must really feel upset over what happened."

Ruruka was stunned into silence by her words for a while. As Dawn moved on to Ryota, she leaned over to Chris and Kyosuke. "Mark that as an instant pass. She deserves it."

"I know, it's scary isn't it?"

...

In front of **B** was a huge pile of junk that Chris had dug up from the area, with some of it being recognisable from the previous series. What he had to do was make absolutely anything that could be used out of it. Most people would think this impossible if it were anyone else doing it, but this was the contestant who could create an almost-rocket out of a sofa and toxic waste barrels.

Already, quite a few of the items had been built up to form some kind of wall, which was off to the side so he could still be seen by the examiners. Once that had been set up, B pulled a handful of tools out of his coat and began doing...something, with a barrel, an old charging lead and a toxic marshmallow. A few people freaked out when they saw the neon green food, but calmed down again after B dropped it into some kind of box.

Once it was all over, Kyosuke began calling to him from the stage.

"Alright then, what have you created?"

"..."

"He doesn't talk to anyone," Chris whispered to him.

B turned the barrel so it was facing the wall he built earlier, then pressed a button he had in his coat. A glass panel then rose up in front of the seats to protect the other teens from what was about to happen. He then bent over to pick up one of Chef's meatballs that was also in the pile, and loaded it into the barrel.

Flicking a switch beside the box with the marshmallow inside, and running towards the stage, B covered his ears and waited for the magic to happen. After three seconds, the meatball shot out of the end of the barrel and collided straight on with the bottom middle of the wall. Everything came crashing down onto the floor, with some of the bits hitting the panel of glass.

"Maybe him and Kazuichi should build a rocket together. Then we'd be getting somewhere!"

...

"So the two of you are collaborating for your exam?"

 **Ian and Trent** were stood in front of the judges, with Ian a little further behind.

"That's right," Trent said. "Ian wrote the song, and I'll be performing it."

"I see. Remember, Trent will only be assessed on the performance, while Ian will only be assessed on the song itself. You have the music for it, right?"

"Uh, y-yeah. Here," as he handed over a spare folder of the sheet, Leon noticed that shy, freshman Ian was starting to return, probably due to the fact that there was so much pressure on him at the moment.

Adjusting the mic stand one last time, Trent started performing. Nobody had any doubts about him passing, since he was a natural performer, and a former member of the Drama Brothers. Ian was the person most people were focused on - more specifically, his song he'd come up with. If they were honest, they would never listen to a song and think to themselves, "hey, Ian Costello wrote that song."

As the meaning of the lyrics started to sink in, they realised that the reason he'd been nervous about the exam was probably because of the song itself. It appeared to be about an unspecified kind of relationship (friends, family or romantic, most likely family), where two people who used to be close years ago split up suddenly with no explanation why, and the narrator wondering what they'd done wrong.

After it was finished, everyone applauded the two of them, them bumping fists before leaving the stage.

"Okay, since the next exam requires a little setting up, let's take 5."

Trent was met with even more fist bumps from his classmates, but glancing over back at Class 1's lot, he noticed a teary-eyed Ian being closed into a bear hug by his own classmates.

* * *

 

There weren't an awful lot of Class 5 exams that genuinely stood out, but one of the ones that did was that of **Teruteru**.

Instead of making something savoury like he normally did, he'd decided to go for something sweet - specifically, a cake.

With a little assistance from Brody, who'd gone up just before, he set the very large cake on the examiners' table. On closer inspection, everyone noticed it was a wedding cake. The white icing on the outside was perfectly even around the whole thing, and the pale pink fondant roses blended in brilliantly. On the bottom tiers of the cake, there was a silver edible glitter decoration. It was fair to say that made people want Teruteru to make sweet things more often.

And it was even fairer to say that Ruruka was turning green with envy.

"Uh, Ando-san?" Ryota asked. "Are you alright?"

"This looks...almost as good...as what I make..." Ruruka was squeezing her hat extremely hard in her hand, while still managing to look as sweet as she usually does.

"O-okay, calm down. Anyway, what flavour is it, Hanamura-kun?"

Cutting a slice out of it and passing it to Ryota, the cake was revealed to be a dark pink colour, with each layer filled with cream. "Only the most elegant flavour for an event as prestigious as this - a pink champagne flavoured sponge, with a buttercream of the same flavour. Please, enjoy!"

Kyosuke and Chris both cut slices and started tucking in, while Ryota was worried about the chance of Ruruka wrecking the cake. "C-come on Ando-san, it won't hurt to try a little bit."

"Fine..." She took his fork and took a bit off the end of his slice. As she was putting it in her mouth, the other three examiners and Teruteru watched intently. A few more moments of chewing, then she spoke.

"This...is...so good...!" She still sounded angry and was squeezing her hat with her other hand, but it still counted as a compliment. Once again, Teruteru got help carrying it back to his seat again, where it started to get shared out between everyone.

"First Ibuki's _hormone-yakiniku_ , then Teruteru-chan's cake? Best day ever!"

...

The final person to go up was **Shinjiro** , and it was fair to say the pressure was once again quite high. What the staff had neglected to mention a month ago was that the remaining students were allowed to watch the rest of the exams after they were done. So Shinjiro had the whole school watching his. A few people were skeptical about what this exam would involve.

"Anime Fanatic? How do you do an exam on that?"

"Does he review an anime or something?"

"Maybe Tomoko or Ian know about it." At the mention of their names, both of them shrugged, just as in the dark about what he'd be up to.

"I bet it's gonna be something nerdy as hell."

In front of them, a projector and whiteboard had been set up, the same ones used from Mahiru's exam, and Shinjiro was stood to the side of it facing the judges. A stack of papers were on the floor beside his foot, and a button was in his hand.

"As the SHSL Anime Fanatic, I have a great deal of knowledge about the medium. From technical elements to quirky behind-the-scenes trivia, and my classmates should know that. However, what I'll be presenting for my exam is a topic that has been covered over a variety of media."

He pressed the button once, and the display on the board changed to a title: "Sexualisation: does it divert attention from the rest of the show? This is a topic anyone could rattle on about for the entire day, but since I only have up to 10 minutes, I'll keep it brief and original."

Much to the school's surprise, Shinjiro spoke with enthusiasm and very little hesitation about this topic. Every so often, a picture would appear of a certain character, and he would describe in depth how the character is represented and exactly how many of their actions appear to focus solely on their sex appeal, before following up with any developments related to it. Tomoko very nearly exploded when one of the characters mentioned was Professor Bitch from Assassination Classroom, but calmed down again when she realised he made excellent points and didn't spoil anything.

When he finished, every one of his classmates applauded, and a few people were certain that he blushed because of it.

...

"I had no idea you had all that going for you. Who would have known you could come up with that with a title as vague as the SHSL Anime Fanatic?"

The results had come through by the next day, and everybody had passed their exams. To celebrate, almost the entire student body had decided to go out to celebrate, having split off into smaller groups to make it easier. In Shinjiro's group were his classmates, his bandmates, and a handful of others who were brought along by extension (for example Kiyotaka, Ibuki and Kitty).

"In all honesty, I prefer the title of SHSL Anime Analyst. But as long as it shows in the exams, I'll happily take both."

"I just have to say that you very nearly broke the rules on our competition, you know that right?"

"Did you see Tomoko's face when you mentioned Assassination Classroom?"

"Yeah, I was worried you'd reveal something important."

"Can I just say, Teruteru-chan's cake was the highlight of the whole thing!"

"Well, it's a good thing that we all get to stay longer, so we can eat more of it!"

The group began laughing with happiness, as Kitty stood up from her chair and raised her glass. "To Hope's Peak Academy!"

"To Hope's Peak Academy!" The group clinked their glasses together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: the tradition of White Day reaches the Canadian high school.


	20. White Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Both in Canada and Japan, the students celebrate White Day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hit a writer's block with this chapter, so expect it to suck. The next few chapters, however, I'm looking forward to completing.

_“I’ve eaten all of them already! I’ve really missed the chocolate over there!”_

“It’s a shame I was unable to make them myself.”

_“Oh, don’t worry about it! As long as I receive something from you, that’s enough for me.”_

Kyosuke and Juzo could feel Chisa’s smile from down the phone.

_“Anyway, I have a class to return to. I see Mioda-san’s guitar. I’ll speak to you both again later.”_

Chisa hung up the phone, almost as soon as Manami opened the door. With the amount of times she was walking into Kyosuke’s office during class time, anyone would think that she was a secretary rather than a homeroom teacher.

“Munakata-san, a few people in the class are gathered outside the classroom and refuse to come in. Could one of you give me a hand?”

“I’m on it,” Juzo stood up and followed Manami (who was now running) towards her classroom. As he got closer, true to her word, he noticed a majority of the class’ boys huddled near the door – there were eight in the class, and five of them were assembled there, one of them trying to hide behind their hands.

“Come on, just go in there and give it to her!”

“B-but what if she rejects me?”

“Jeez, she gave you Valentines chocolates last month! What more of a hint do you need?”

“Everyone believes you can do this!”

“B-but…” before he could object, the other four grabbed his arm and dragged him into the classroom. It reminded Juzo a little of his own time at Hope’s Peak. Their second year at Hope’s Peak, he’d played the role of wingman to Kyosuke, when he almost chickened out of giving Chisa a White Day present.

Finding himself smiling, he approached the doorway to help quell the chaos.

 

* * *

 

Meanwhile, at the Neo Hope's Peak, people were also returning gifts from Valentines Day. One person who was surprisingly organised was Ibuki, who had a clipboard and pen in front of her, with the names of every student printed on the paper.

"Let's see...I've only received return gifts from the people in this class, as well as the 77th Class. I'm disappointed."

"You don't really expect _everyone_ in the school to give you a White Day present, do you?"

"Do you know how hard Ibuki worked to make enough of them?"

"Let's face it. If everyone gave you something, you'd be through the roof."

"Kitty makes a fair point."

A knock on the door drew the class' attention somewhere else - Shinjiro was stood in the doorway holding a box. Although it wasn't that that people were looking at: it was the dripping hair, and the towel with some anime character design that was wrapped round his lower half.

"Tomoko, can you get out here for a moment?" She got up, closing the door behind her and facing her brother.

"Did you just come from the pool? And where the hell did the towel come from?"

"March's anime box. Anyway, these are from Ishimaru." He pushed the box into her hand. There was a neatly written note on top of it, and six white chocolates placed inside. Shinjiro then revealed a tube of white chocolate cookies (shop-bought) to go with them.

"These are from Ishimaru-kun?" She looked back to the door confused.

"Using Oowada's words: "kyoudai chickened out at the last minute, so you better give these to Fukuhara." So here you go. Oh yeah, and Leon's about to play round two in the game of love. Wanna watch?"

Tomoko sighed, reaching for the door. "Yeah, sure."

...

"So how did he react then?"

"He was blushing violently and trying to hide behind his sleeve, while Ibuki and Kitty were obsessing over this "development". I left before they could drag me into it."

"Good thinking."

"I know we're almost there now, but when are you gonna put some clothes on?" He hadn't changed a thing since they left her classroom, which was downright embarrassing for Tomoko.

When they reached the entrance hall, Leon and Ian were hidden behind a pillar, Leon holding the scarf he bought before in his hand. Further away, Sayaka was waiting for him to show up - much to the band's surprise, Junko hadn't decided to come along and humiliate them both.

"Hey Shinjiro...why are you naked?" Ian passed him his blazer to help cover up his bare chest. "Whatever, we're all set up for this. No cameras, no freaking out, but I've had every pillar in the hall padded just in case."

"Again, good thinking."

"So Leon, you ready for this?"

"Please, you guys. He's just giving her a White Day present, not proposing."

"Give it a few years..."

"Yeah, let's do it!" The four of them bumped knuckles as Leon went round the corner (taking the time to adjust his uniform), and approaching the idol, the scarf hidden behind his back. For now, her attention was drawn to a large cardboard box. Leon couldn't see what was inside it, but didn't really care. All that mattered to him was him and Sayaka - LeoSaya, if you will.

"Hey, Maizono-chan," Leon waved, using the chance to look into the box anyway. It wasn't that full, but had a few items of old clothing in it. One of them looked like Komaru's old uniform. "What's that for?"

"Apparently Mioda-san's collecting old clothes for her festival stall. Because she sews her own outfits, she's making a few things to sell."

"Right," gulping and looking back over at his bandmates again, he extended the hand with the scarf in. "A-anyway, here. Happy White Day!"

Almost examining the scarf, Sayaka took it out of his hands. A few moments of this passed, then she started smiling and put it on.

"Thank you, Kuwata-kun. I really do love it."

"And it looks great on you, too." Both of them stood there smiling - Leon a bit more goofily than her - until they heard female voices approaching.

"Maizono-san, we've been looking all over for y-- KYAA! Pervert!"

The "pervert" line wasn't directed at Leon, but instead at Shinjiro...who was still in his bathing suit and towel.

Running over to Ian and Tomoko, Leon and Sayaka saw Shinjiro in a ball on the floor, being repeatedly hit by Sayaka's posse, and there was very little possibility of anyone getting them off.

 

* * *

 

"And so the one in the infirmary was Shinjiro instead of Leon."

"That explains why Fujisaki-kun told me he didn't see him return to class."

Since Mondo and Chihiro had a workout session of their own this evening, Kiyotaka decided to walk back from school alongside Tomoko, once he'd got over the violent blushing (and once Tomoko had made sure Ibuki and Kitty weren't stealthily following from a few metres behind).

"And clearly, the incident with Amy during orientation hasn't been forgotten either."

Short pause.

"I never got to do this in person today, but I wanted to thank you for the White Day gifts."

And then the blushing started all over again. "O-oh, it was n-no p-p-problem, Fukuhara-k-kun."

"Jeez, no need to be embarrassed by it."

"I understand that, b-but like I said before, nobody's ever given me a Valentine's gift before. S-so, that would be it."

"Yeah, I get it. But it was only a _giri-choco_ so don't be too embarrassed about it," Tomoko said, laughing a little.

"Well, alright then." The two of them reached the point where they have to go in different directions. And it would have been a peaceful walk all the way, if...

"KIYOTAKA-CHAN!!"

"Uwah! Mioda-kun!"

Holding her clipboard, Ibuki popped up from behind a wall, a little dirty, looking at the two of her classmates.

"Ibuki! Why did you follow me here?!"

"As much as Ibuki would have loved to watch your display of affection..."

"Tch."

"...Ibuki is still expecting a return gift from Mondo-chan and Chihiro-chan, so was hoping that Kiyotaka-chan could spread the word."

"Hold on, is _that_ why you handed out so many chocolates last month?"

"Ibuki refuses to comment. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to wait for Noah-chan and co." And with that, she popped back behind the wall.

Kiyotaka and Tomoko just stared in awe for some more. "Will we ever be able to have a normal, _uninterrupted_ conversation?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: Seiko shares the details of her own time at Hope's Peak.


	21. A Science of Uncertainty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A knife accident in martial arts club leads to Kitty finding out some information about Seiko Kimura's past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE PREVIOUS TITLE HAS BEEN CHANGED FROM "HIGH SCHOOL LIFE OF HOPE" TO THIS.  
> I did this because the old title seemed bland, and I felt that this one matched more with the idea of a normal high school life. Either way, I hope you continue to enjoy this story.

During martial arts club, Tomoko had approached Sakura with an unexpected request.

“Oogami-san.”

“Fukuhara, how may I help you?”

“I was wondering if I could have extra martial arts training next year, outside of the club.”

“Why would you want something like that? You are already proving to be excellent at self-defence.”

“It’s an odd reason, but I’ve been motivated by reading Assassination Classroom. I’ve wanted to try and emulate the techniques they use in it.”

Sakura was quiet. “I will consider your request, but thank you for asking me about it.”

Simply nodding, Tomoko walked back over to the mat she was sharing with Kiyotaka, picking her bokken off the floor.

“What did Oogami-kun say?”

“She’d have a think about it and then get back to me at some point.”

“Well, at least it wasn’t a no. Anyway, let’s keep going.”

“Right.” In this session, the pairs were fighting with weapons (although only Mukuro and Peko were allowed to use real ones, due to their talents). Tomoko and Kiyotaka were both engaging in kendo matches, since it was Kiyotaka’s specialty.

Having done kendo for years, he was naturally more talented than her, but Tomoko was still able to easily and quickly block most of his attacks. Most.

“Gh!” Eventually, an attack made contact with Tomoko’s wrist, signalling the end of another duel. “How’d I do that time?”

Setting his bokken down, he checked his watch. “27 seconds. You’re getting better at this!”

“Thanks, but you’ll always be better at it than I am.”

In the meantime, on a different mat, Harold had brought along a slightly different weapon of his own.

“Uh, Harold, what exactly is that?” His partner Brick looked at his hand confused. “Why not just use nunchucks?”

“Who needs nunchucks when you have the mighty Num-Yo!”

“Uh…alright then, soldier. Let’s start!”

With those two being the last to start sparring, Hina bounded over to Sakura, still watching the fights. “So, Sakura-chan, if it’s okay, I might consider asking Shinjiro to join in.”

She nodded. “I have no objections, although he would need to have a partner join alongside him.”

“Awesome!” Turning back to the fighting, Hina was eager for things to heat up a little bit more.

And then it all happened.

As Brick landed a punch in Harold’s stomach, he instinctively let go of his Num-Yo, which had started heading towards Mukuro and Peko. Peko had a firm grip on her weapon, but the knife was knocked from Mukuro’s hand, sending it flying towards Kitty and MacArthur…before lodging itself in MacArthur’s hand.

Every head was turned towards the bad cop, an awkward silence filling the room.

…

…

“I should…probably take her to the infirmary.”

 

* * *

 

Seiko was there instead of Mikan, since the day was technically over, as well as Scarlett. While MacArthur was trying hard not to yell out from the pain of the knife wedged into her hand, Seiko was stood by the drugs cabinet in the room, rifling around for a particular container.

“Are you sure we shouldn’t look for Mikan?” Scarlett asked.

“As a pharmacist, I still have some first aid experience, but not on the same level as Tsumiki.” Eventually finding the right one, she removed the capsule and poured some of the liquid into a cup.

“Here. Drink this and it should stop hurting.” She passed the cup to MacArthur, letting go of her bad hand and taking it off her. Almost immediately after she’d downed it, the feeling of pain in her hand completely subsided.

“Woah! It feels like nothing even happened! Why haven’t I found anything like this in stores?”

Looking down at her hand, MacArthur was even more surprised. For the wound was gradually healing itself, and even the blood was clearing itself up. As for the knife, the pharmacist had pulled it out and dropped it onto the floor the moment MacArthur was distracted. Seiko just watched calmly, while MacArthur had the most bewildered look on her face than ever before, and Kitty photographed it. Even Scarlett looked genuinely impressed.

“There, all done.”

“Wow.”

“I’d try not to use that hand too much for the next twelve hours, since the regrown skin might still be a little sensitive.”

“Thanks again! I’ll be coming to you for more later!” MacArthur grinned and ran out of the infirmary, at which Kitty beamed at Seiko.

“That drug was so awesome! I bet you made loads of people at Hope’s Peak really happy with them!”

“…not exactly. I was expelled in my second year.”

Kitty glanced over at Scarlett. She just shook her head, indicating she didn’t know either. “How did that happen then?”

“It was during the exams. You know Ruruka and Izayoi from the confectionery store?” The other two nodded. “We…used to be friends since we were children. We’ve been to the same school forever – elementary, middle, high, and then Hope’s Peak Academy. But even though we were friends, she relied on me for almost everything. It was essentially her taking advantage of me, just because _I_ couldn’t do something.”

“What would that be?”

“I can’t eat anything sugary, otherwise it’ll cause dangerous side effects with my medicine. Because of that, I told Ruruka I’d do anything she wanted to make up for it, and things just seemed to go too far. But it all fell apart by the time we reached our Hope’s Peak practical exams. She asked me for a strength-enhancing drug to put into one of her pastries, but somehow the wrong one must have got into it. And when the judges found out, Ruruka thought I gave her the wrong one intentionally. She failed her exam, and began calling me a traitor.

“Obviously, I got angry, and things escalated from there. Out of nowhere, a giant Pomeranian burst into the gym, I fell over out of surprise, and then the gym just exploded. I think I hit a button or something. After that incident, all three of us were expelled.”

“So that’s the relationship you had with Ruruka and Sonosuke.”

“And all the stuff you told me at the start of the year.”

“But…deep down I’ve always wanted to fix things. I just wanted to be friends all along, even though I doubt Ruruka felt the same way.”

“I felt that’s how it was,” Scarlett said, “since you’ve only been referring to her using her first name, which is unusual for the Japanese language.”

“I tried talking to her about it back at Fu- in Japan, but she didn’t really seem interested. Sure, she said a couple of things, but it really didn’t seem like she was bothered.” Seiko looked down at her feet. “I don’t know whether or not I should just give up on it…”

“Of course you shouldn’t!” Kitty stood up and shouted, slightly too loud if anything. “If this is something you’re passionate about, then you should see it through to the end, no matter how long it takes!”

“R-really?”

“Obviously! Why not try talking to her again, or doing something that will mean she’ll have no choice but to reconsider?”

“That’s what’s caused all of this misunderstanding in the first place, Kitty.”

“I wasn’t saying it had to be a favour,” she turned back to Seiko. “Anyway, all I’m saying is if you seriously want this to happen in the future, then do something, and don’t give up so easily!” The clock in the infirmary then chimed the next hour – to be exact, the one after the time the martial arts club should have ended. Had it really been that long?. “I hope all that helped, but now I gotta get back home. See you tomorrow!”

As Kitty ran out of the infirmary, Scarlett and Seiko started talking again.

“Was all that true, or did you make some of it up to amuse Kitty?”

“All of it really happened. And none of it was a lie.”

“I see.” The two girls sat in silence for a moment, until Scarlett skipped over the depressing things. “So, backtracking a little bit, do you think I might be able to help you with making anything in the future?”

Seiko agreed with her friend, but deep inside her mind, Kitty’s words echoed. “Doing something that will mean she’ll have no choice but to reconsider”? But what exactly could that be?

 

* * *

 

“Kitty, you’re home late. What kept you?” Carrie and Devin were both sat in front of the TV.

“MacArthur got injured during the club, so I had to take her to get it looked at.”

“Right. Anyway, food’s in the kitchen.”

“Oh, by the way,” Devin butted in, “I’ve got family coming over tomorrow evening, so if you wanted to stay somewhere else for the night…? Well, if you wanted to stay here, that’s still fine.”

“I’ll ask Tomoko if I can stay at hers or something.”

“Okay. Don’t be long, otherwise your dinner will get cold.”

“No problem. I’ll be quick!” Kitty ran up to slip off her uniform blazer, not before sliding her phone out of a pocket. “Right after I do this.”

She dialled a number off a business card on her bedside table. “Hey, Ruruka! It’s Kitty. Yeah, I have a special order for tomorrow, if that isn’t a problem…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: Kitty hears Ruruka's side of the story.


	22. All The Sweeter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kitty hears Ruruka's side of the story, Tomoko experiences problems during her investigating, and another surprise occurrence happens.

“Let me see if I got this right…seven slabs of rocky road fudge, and four boxes of _petit fours_? You know four boxes is a total of 96, right?”

“Of course I do! It’s for my friends’ party tonight.”

“Well, alright then. If you need Yoi-chan to help carry them out for you, then just ask.”

All the food that had been prepared for the selfie girl nearly obstructed the confectioner from view. Sure, she was looking forward to eating it, but come on, after the conversation she had last night, was this really all it was about?

“Actually, I wanted to stay here for a while, to talk about something.”

“Oh. That’s surprising.” Scooting past the counter, she sat opposite Kitty at one of the tables. For now, nobody else was in there other than Sonosuke. “So, what did you want to talk about?”

“ _Your_ exams at Hope’s Peak.”

Kitty pretended not to notice Ruruka visibly tense up. Sonosuke turned towards them, but had the same expression as ever.

“In detail, if you please.”

Despite her feelings, Ruruka smiled (albeit nervously). “Random question. It’s not something I usually talk about, but if you really want to know then--”

_DING!_

“Ah, speaking of which,” Ruruka got up and quickly ran over to her oven, revealing four very delicious looking choux pastries. “This was what I wanted to make for the exam.”

The cream in the middle was a shade of blue that reminded Kitty of the sky. “These are called _Sky-Blue-Heaven Days Choux Crèmes_! There was a little…problem that happened during the exam, however.”

“Like~…?”

Ruruka sighed, glanced at Sonosuke, and started talking about it. “It started off really well. The original plan was for the judges to experience a sensation as though they could fly! But then,” she sighed and her demeanour changed slightly, “it turns out the ‘performance enhancer’ I was given turned out to be a laxative. All thanks to Kimura.”

“Huh? Seiko did that on purpose?”

“Well, yes!...no…I…really don’t know anymore. All I know is I asked her for a performance enhancer drug, I got the one she told me too, and…well, you know about the bomb already.”

Unbeknownst to both adults, Kitty was speed-typing everything she heard as she spoke. “Two things. One – that is technically cheating, you do realise that, right? And two – you’ve never once suspected it was a misunderstanding?”

“So,” Ruruka’s worry changed to suspicion. “You’re suggesting it wasn’t Kimura’s fault?”

“Exactly.” Both were silent. “Don’t understand it? Why not explain to me what happened?”

“Uh, alright…” swallowing, Ruruka started recounting her story. “On the day of our second year exam, Ruruka was asking Kimura for a performance enhancer drug to put in my pastry. Or as she called it, a reanimator. She told me go to the very back of the storage room, top shelf, and grab the one on the left. And I did, and it turned out to be a laxative!”

“Is that really all that happened?”

“Well, Kimura was caught with a detonator and--”

“I meant on the day you collected the drug.”

Clearly not remembering, Ruruka turned to Izayoi, who just shrugged. “I just remember holding a knife at some kid coming out who was carrying a different drug.”

“Oh yeah, that’s right! Wait…”

“Fluffy white hair, pale complexion. I think. Kimura said he came there for a laxative.”

Kitty groaned and slammed her head onto the table, almost knocking the choux buns off it. “ _Nagito_ …I knew that boy was dangerous deep down!”

Having recovered from the frustration, Kitty looked back up to see Ruruka looking at her, with almost puppy-like eyes.

…

Over an hour later, Ruruka was still sobbing with her head on the table, Izayoi beside her with a hand on her shoulder. Kitty sat back in her chair, dropping a glass of water and box of tissues in front of her.

“Yes, Ruruka. I know you’re still upset, but…”

Still sobbing, she responded. “But n-nothing! I-it was all a mist-t-take, and I was s-so horrible to her since then!”

“Okay, that is quite bad. But you do realise you still have a chance to fix things, don’t you?”

Ruruka _did_ look up that time. “How? I really don’t think she’d want to talk to Ruruka again after everything. After she called her a _subhuman asshole_!”

“Well…” Kitty just decided to stick with what she’d told Seiko yesterday. “If it’s something you really want, just go ahead and talk to her. She’s mostly in the school with Scarlett. You know, ginger hair in a bun?”

“Y-yeah, okay. I think I might do that. Oh, how long have I been crying for?!” Glancing at the clock, Ruruka dried her eyes again and ran back behind the counter. “Ruruka needs to get back to work. Thanks again for everything, Kitty!”

“Anytime!”

Leaving the shop (eventually) and walking towards Tomoko’s house, Kitty pulled out her phone.

 

* * *

 

“Hello?”

_“I’m on my way over to your house now!”_

“Only right now? What’ve you been doing up until now?”

_“Talking with Ruruka. She was having problems with…oh…”_

“Huh? What’s wrong?”

_“I left my order on the counter! I’ll see you back there!”_

“What? But I’m not--” Kitty hung up before she could respond to her. Looking at her phone, she just shrugged and slipped it back into her bag. “Meh. I’m sure Ian or someone will let her in.”

“Are you done, Fukuhara-san?”

She went back into Kyoko’s investigation room. “Yeah, sorry, it was just Kitty.” Taking her seat and pulling out a folder, she looked in the centre in confusion. “Oh, more tea.”

“Actually, it’s coffee. Naegi-kun must have accidentally taken the other flask this morning.”

“Oh. In that case, I’ll pass.”

“Alright then. So, back to business.”

“I’ve been thinking, but I just can’t figure anything out. Although I still have one theory. What with this thing the news article said was “akin to war”. It’s about who could be partially behind it.”

“Go on.”

“I still think either Hinata-kun or this Izuru Kamukura is relevant. And maybe that person who murdered the student council president.”

“That person was called Yasuke Matsuda, the SHSL Neurologist. And they in turn were murdered not long before the problem spread any further.”

“Right. Other than that, it’s really getting difficult to figure anything out. So for now, can I just ask you something?”

“And what would that be?”

“You said your classmates, and probably the 77th class were sealed into the school campus to protect you, right? Then how exactly did you get here? And why?”

Kyoko was quiet, before finding out a way to keep everything secret. Exaggerating. “We were saved by a group known as Future Foundation. Their mission was to try to restore peace to the world after the events.”

“Future Foundation?”

“They were a group consisting mostly of Hope’s Peak Academy alumni. They had fourteen branches making it up, each of which was dedicated to a different area. For example, one oversaw protecting victims, and another was in charge of restoring agriculture.”

“Alright, I guess that makes sense. But why come here?”

“In all honesty, with someone like Chris helping too, we may never get a clear answer.”

“Hmm…fine. Gh.”

“What? Aren’t you convinced with my answer?”

“Not that. I’m just getting a bit of a back pain.”

“Have you been sitting oddly? Maybe we should call this off.”

“I don’t think I have. Although I was doing a few errands for Yukizome-sensei before I came up here. Yeah, that might be it.”

Kyoko stood up and collected her things, sliding them into her satchel. “Well, for now, just go back home and get some painkillers from Kimura-san.”

“Okay. Thanks, Kirigiri-san.” Collecting her stuff, she left behind Kyoko, with both of them wondering how so little progress had been made in the investigations, and also where the back pains had come from all of a sudden.

One of them more frustrated than the other.

 

* * *

 

Later that night, Kitty had chosen to spend the night at Tomoko’s house, as planned. Both girls were in their pyjamas in front of the TV – Kitty’s hair was in a bun, and she was in a short magenta top with shorts (but the top was so long you couldn’t see them). Tomoko had a grey t-shirt top plus light blue/green bottoms with a plaid design over the top.

Currently, Kitty was flicking between Teletoon and MTV, while Tomoko was making mugs of hot chocolate in the kitchen, still with the back pains.

“Hey Tomoko, any programming preferences?”

“Anything that’s decent. Ow!”

“Didn’t you stop off at Seiko’s for anything?”

“I tried to, but the shop was closed.”

“Oh, okay. Then what about the stuff you have in the house?”

“Took some not too long ago, so they should still take a while to kick in. Hate to be antisocial, but I think I’ll just try and sleep it off.” She grabbed the hot chocolates out of the kitchen and handed one to Kitty.

“Okay. Night, Tomoko.”

“Night,” Kitty eventually put something on that was worth watching, listening to her friend’s grunts of pain as she went upstairs. In the meantime, she was able to enjoy the mass ordered fudge with her hot drink.

…

At 3 in the morning, Kitty’s thoughts of the last couple of days woke her up.

She was in Tess’ old room for the night, and without her around, it meant it was perfectly acceptable.

Anyway, with both accounts of the Hope’s Peak exam in her mind – and one of them also on her phone – she was able to fully understand everything. It had entirely been a misunderstanding, and Ruruka must have taken it the wrong way. Or rather, from what she’d seen, Izayoi thought Seiko was the traitor, and naturally Ruruka believed him to the end. And above everything else…

Nagito Komaeda was a goddamn psychopath!

All of a sudden, Kitty was distracted from her thoughts by her phone ringing next to her. She didn’t recognise the number, but still answered.

“Hello?”

_“Yes, am I speaking with a, Kitty?”_

“Yeah…”

_“I’m calling on behalf of Toronto General Hospital. We have a Ms. Seiko Kimura whose just been brought in – is she a friend of yours?”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: will Seiko and Ruruka finally make amends?


	23. Sweet Healing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruruka realises that she distrusts people a little too much, and the three former friends are finally able to talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one feels a little rushed, and the part that's supposed to be Ruruka's thought process was a last minute thing I threw in. Regardless, I did enjoy writing the Seiko/Ruruka chapters.  
> Also, because this might be the last update before Christmas (if not, of 2017), have a very happy Christmas!

Another 45 minutes passed before Tomoko had woken up, overcome her pains, and pulled up in front of the hospital to drop off Kitty, both still in their pyjamas. It would have taken practically half the time, but Tomoko’s back pains didn’t seem to stop after the usual painkillers, so she had to drive a lot slower.

“Do you need me to come in with you?”

“Only if you want to do something about your back.”

“N-no, really. It’s fine.”

“Okay then,” Kitty slammed the car door behind her, and headed inside as fast as possible. With the size of the hospital, it took Kitty a while to find the right ward where Seiko was being kept. She got a hint as to where she was when she saw two familiar faces sat in the hallway.

Ruruka looked quite worried, while Izayoi was just trying to comfort her. Feeling the same way, Kitty took the other seat beside her and pulled on her pyjama top anxiously. Almost immediately afterwards, a nurse came out of the ward and approached them.

"Excuse me, are you friends of Seiko Kimura?" Nobody verbally responded, but all of them looked up at her. "Well, alright then. Anyway, she's had something similar to an allergic reaction. We found traces of sugar in her bloodstream, and a red wrapper in her hand." To prove her point, she showed it to the three of them. "Does this mean anything to you?"

Ruruka's eyes lit up in recognition. "I gave that to her when we first met each other! I didn't know about her problems with sugar at the time."

"Well the most plausible explanation for what happened is that she ate it, but I can't imagine why. Regardless, she's in a stable condition, and you can go in if you want to."

Ruruka thanked the nurse as she left, leading Kitty to look at her sadly.

"Sorry Ruruka," she said. "I think this is my fault. I told Seiko to do anything possible to try and get closer to you again, but I had no idea she'd do that."

"Huh? She wanted to get close with Ruruka again?"

Kitty just nodded. Thinking for a few moments, Ruruka eventually got up with Izayoi. "Well, I'm just going to see how she's doing. You don't have to stay here if you don't want to. And by the way, I'm not mad at you."

"Sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. Shall I tell her you stopped by?"

"Uh, yes please."

"I'll see you soon then," smiling despite everything, the couple went ahead to Seiko's room.

...

"That was quick," Tomoko remarked as Kitty got back into the passenger's seat of the car. "Is everything okay?"

"I think my advice may have backfired. She ate one of Ruruka's candies to get her attention."

"Come on, it isn't your fault. As if you knew she'd do that." Starting the engine and moving her hand away from her back, Tomoko pulled out of her parking spot. "Right then, why don't we go back and have some early breakfast? With how I’m feeling, it'll be around 6am by the time we get back."

This perked her up a bit more. "Yeah, sure thing!"

_Now let’s hope Kimura-san gets out soon otherwise this’ll never end._

 

* * *

 

"Seiko...did that for me? Again?”

Despite everything that the two (three if one counted Izayoi) had been through, and every comment Ruruka had made about Seiko “refusing to eat her sweets”, there was still a time that Seiko had tried one of her sweets. Unfortunately, she’d also ended up in the same situation as the one she was currently in.

Right now, it was only those three of them in the room, since it was technically quite late at night. With Ruruka having not brought anything with her to eat, she just settled with watching Seiko. In the meantime, Izayoi was eating something small he’d had on his person.

Ruruka sighed. “I guess Ruruka has been a little too doubtful of Seiko.”

“You really think so?”

She was never one to trust other people that easily, but after what Kitty had spoken to her about that evening, she was starting to see the light. But despite this, she still had lingering doubts about the idea of trusting people, especially after her experiences with the Tragedy, and the killings…

“Ruruka? Are you alright?”

Then again being more open and trustworthy might make people like her more. Then that would be more allies she could bend to her will…agh! What was she thinking? That was exactly what cost her relationship with Seiko! She needs to stop this kind of thing! Ugh, but if she did, then would Ruruka lose her skills at negotiating? B-but Seiko! But her talent!

“AAAAHHHH! Ruruka can’t think straight!”

Ruruka genuinely had no idea what had caused her to suddenly react like that. It must be all the Tragedy stuff catching up to her after all this time. But that reasoning for it wouldn’t deter the passing doctors from staring at them. And clearly, that wasn’t the only effect of it…

"Ru...ru...ka...?"

Calming herself down and hearing the weak voice coming from the hospital bed, Ruruka sprang up out of the chair and leaned over the edge. "Seiko-chan!" She hadn't even realised she'd used an honorific.

"Kimura, is it true?"

"Huh...?

"That you ate one of Ruruka's candies. The one I gave you when we were kids."

Seiko was quiet, looking up at the ceiling, which almost sent the confectioner into a panic, until she nodded.

“Why? Why would you do that?!”

“I wanted us to try and put things behind us. I’ve wanted to since Future Foundation.”

Ruruka did remember some occasions where their branches had crossed paths, and Seiko had wanted to talk to her. However, whether it was due to work load or downright irritation, Ruruka had never been able to hold anything for longer than ten seconds.

“That Kitty girl convinced me to try and talk to you again.”

“Kitty again?” This stunned the couple.

“Regardless,” Izayoi spoke, “it’s messed up that you would risk your own life just for something like that.”

Another silence.

"It was worth it, though."

To Ruruka's confusion, Seiko faced the two of them. It may have been hard to tell with the mask on, but she had an expression of pure happiness on her face, an emotion she hadn't truly felt in a long time. "It was the most amazing thing I've ever eaten!"

Ruruka laughed, also out of genuine happiness, and wiped the tears off her face.

As for the ever stoic Izayoi, even he managed to do the same.

 

* * *

 

Over a week after that incident, and every time people had tried to get something from Ruruka's shop, they'd discovered it was closed up. Kitty had told everyone that Seiko was in hospital, and much to everyone's surprise, Kitty was spending time with Scarlett to stop her from feeling as lonely - it went without saying that most of the Pahkitew Island contestants weren't too keen on befriending her.

With the amount of time spent together, Tomoko would have asked the genius about the origins of her back pains (as they lasted for a further two days), but they ended up healing after that point, which she was still baffled about. Today, however, it was just Kitty and Scarlett, who were walking towards Ruruka’s shop.

"Hey Scarlett, why don't we see if it's open again?"

"It's been closed every day this week, and the week before. What makes you think it'll be any different?"

“I’m getting bored of waiting, so I just want to check for the sake of it.” They approached the door, where the sign on the door said _open_. “Heh, see?”

Kitty pushed the door open, with Scarlett following behind, and they both received the usual greeting.

"Morning, Kitty!"

"Good to see business running as usual Ruru...ka..."

Near the counter, Ruruka was writing something onto the blackboard in purple chalk. Izayoi nodded from a seat at the table closest, and sat opposite him was Seiko.

"Thanks again for all your help! Oh, you’re Scarlett, aren’t you?"

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Scarlett!” Seiko called from her table. “Have I missed anything while I was in hospital?”

“Not really. And how are you recovering?”

“I’m doing fine now, but I still need to take it easy.”

“Well, it’s a good thing you’re recovering.”

“One moment, let me just go get something.”

As Ruruka moved aside, Kitty looked at the new item that had just been written at the bottom of the menu, except it wasn't an item, per se. In neat handwriting were the words "certain products available sugar free". Even looking at the counter, there was a smaller section cut off from the rest, dedicated solely to products that were free of sugar. Ruruka put a large tray of that type inside the glass cabinet, offering one of them to Seiko.

"So then, Seiko-chan, how does that one taste?"

"It's not as good as the one you gave me in hospital, but still good enough to sell."

“I see. Oh, I forgot!” Setting the tray back down again, Ruruka bounded over to Kitty. "As a thank you for saving our friendship, I'd like to give you this," she passed a plastic card from her pocket over to her. Its background was white, with a pink stripe near the bottom. The logo to the shop went along the top, and written in both English and Japanese in the middle was...

"75% discount for life?! For me?!"

Laughing, Ruruka continued. "If it weren't for you talking to both of us, then things would never have been sorted out."

"And we never would have learned what really happened."

"Honestly," Izayoi added between pastries, "I had a feeling that boy in the 77th Class was involved."

"Anyway, with this card, you can get four times more items for you and your classmates! You can bring anyone you want down here and treat them to something!" And with the most fake and bitter smile ever, added on, "but tell Komaeda that he's banned for life." Recovering quickly, she took her usual position behind the counter.

"So then, how about making the most of this reward?"

Kitty smiled. "I would, but I still have some rocky road fudge at home."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: the final preparations are made for the summer festival.


	24. Homeroom Harmony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The 79th Class of the original HPA discuss their future trip, and Shinjiro struggles to decide on an Endurance Run penalty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I slightly changed the concept of this chapter to focus on the original HPA students coming over.

In Class 1, final preparations were underway for the upcoming school festival, and the students were doing all sorts to get ready. Although one person was busying themselves with something a little different.

Gwen and Courtney heard Scarlett release a sigh. She was currently skimming the news on her phone. “Scarlett? What happened now?”

“According to this, Victoria Wood died two days ago, and Prince yesterday.”

“What, you didn’t know about that?” Courtney asked.

“I’ve been occupying myself with making sure Seiko was recovering well.”

“Oh, right,” Gwen put her pencil down. “How _is_ she?”

“She’s doing well, actually. And it’s a good thing her and Ruruka are getting along again. Kitty sure is something else.” She pocketed her phone. “Enough about that, what are you up to, Gwen?”

“Courtney’s asked me to make club posters to place around the school, for people to see when they get here.”

“Let me see.” Leaning over, Scarlett saw funky looking posters for the martial arts club and the other one that Ibuki girl set up. Not to mention one other club that she didn’t even know existed. “I didn’t know Mahiru set up a photography club.”

“She didn’t,” Courtney grinned. “I’d like posters for clubs that don’t even exist, in order to make us look better.”

 _Science club, cooking club, gaming club, sports club_ …sure, they were all normal clubs that would exist in a high school, but Scarlett didn’t think it was the best idea for the Student Council to make up lies about the school for publicity’s sake.

“Courtney, are you turning into Chris?”

“HELLO!” Ibuki, Kitty and Tomoko all stood in the doorway holding cardboard boxes, so Courtney didn’t have to answer. “Anyone have any old clothes?”

“What for?”

“Ibuki and her bandmates are upcycling clothing to sell at the festival.” She and Tomoko held up their boxes. “Ibuki is also offering uniform repairs and alterations if necessary.” Kitty shook her box a little. “Anyone interested?”

A couple of people came over and dropped things into their boxes, with Kitty bagging any uniforms requiring mending. In the meantime, Tomoko whispered to Ibuki.

“I get why we’re doing the upcycling, obviously, but what’s the point of offering the uniform thing?”

“It’s to help with our bootcamp training. It's been mentioned many times before, but Ibuki sews all her own clothes from scratch, and she wants her bandmates to do the same!”

“So essentially, it’s to help with our light music club “studies”? Okay then.”

“Tomoko-chan understands!” Ibuki’s eyes then lit up. “Ibuki also forgot the other thing!” Once everyone had backed off and the classroom door closed, Ibuki dropped her boxes and showed her ElectroID to the other two girls. “She wants to make outfits for the students who’re coming to help us out!”

“People are coming from a different school?”

“The _old_ Hope’s Peak that we came from before!” Tomoko became a bit suspicious when Ibuki’s sentence blended in with her investigating with Kyoko, but it all was forgotten when Ibuki showed her a photo.

Sixteen very different teenagers were stood at the front of a classroom, an older woman in a black suit in the middle. Most of them were in standard Hope’s Peak uniform.

“I don’t know any of their names or talents yet, but I convinced Chisa to send me a picture!”

“Hopefully they aren’t as mental as some of the people here…”

 

* * *

 

_Meanwhile, in the Japanese Hope’s Peak Academy…_

“Yumeno, Himiko?”

“Here…”

“Yonaga, Angie?”

“Here!”

“Alright, all sixteen of you are present!” Manami placed her attendance log back onto her desk before looking out at her class. “Now, I have an announcement to make. As you’re all probably aware, our partner school in Hope’s Peak is holding their _bunkasai_ next week, and this class have been asked to fly over and assist with it. In a moment, I’m going to pass around a sheet of all the things happening. Afterwards, I’ll ask everyone what they’d like to do, and pass it on to Naegi-san at the end of the day.”

From back to front, left to right, the class were sat like this: Korekiyo, Ryoma, Gonta, Miu, Angie, Kirumi, Kokichi, Kiibo, Maki, Kaito, Shuichi, Kaede, Rantaro, Tenko, Himiko, Tsumugi. The paper worked its way round from Rantaro’s desk. In the meantime, Kiibo raised a hand.

“Have you heard from Munakata-sensei as to whether I’m allowed to travel?”

Manami’s smile faltered. “Unfortunately, yes. I’m sorry Kiibo-kun, but you still can’t go with the rest of the class.”

“…I see.” Dropping his hand again, he sighed and muttered to himself. “Clearly out of all things that’ve developed, attitudes to robophobia isn’t one of them.”

As the paper continued going around the classroom, more people started muttering to the students around them about what they wanted to do, which made Kiibo even more upset. Kokichi sniggered.

“Akamatsu-san!” Tenko turned around in her seat to look at the class representative. “You should do a piano performance!”

The paper was on her desk by this point. “Yeah, I think I might do that. It would be nice to show my talents to the other students there!” She gave the list to Shuichi. “I just need to decide which piece to do and then practice it.”

“I don’t know if I shall help with only one stall, but I will be more than willing to work through all of them.”

“I agree, Tojo-chan!” Kokichi snatched the paper off of her. “It isn’t fair to allow any of them to have my mom’s cooking!”

“For the last time, I am not your mom, Ouma-kun.” Kokichi ignored her, however, and instead watched as Kiibo sadly passed the paper behind him to Miu, having not even read it once (while at the same time trying not to laugh).

“By the way,” Kaito asked, “I heard most of the students there are from some Canadian reality show called Total Drama. Anyone heard of it?”

“I started watching it with Professor Iidabashi for research purposes, after I found out about our trip…which I am apparently not allowed to go on anymore.”

“I heard people talking about it one time when I was travelling in Canada.”

“Has everyone forgotten that there was a dub of Total Drama Action over here?” Tsumugi spoke up. “It was my favourite non-anime show!”

“Didn’t they also launch that really gross snack food? _Total Drama Yum-Yum Happy Go-Time Candy Fish Tails_?”

“Ugh, who even eats that shit?”

“Most likely it was for publicity?”

“Anyway, the point I was trying to make,” while the sheet gradually returned to Manami’s desk, the attention was back on Kaito, “was that some of the people off there reminded me of you guys.”

“Really?”

“That DJ guy makes me think of Gonta, for one.”

“In that case, Gonta will have to meet him at some point!”

“And Shirogane is like someone from a different series. You wouldn’t know them yet.”

“So in short,” Shuichi said, “it’s likely they’ll be just as wild as this class.”

“Exactly!”

Dread formed in Shuichi and Kaede’s stomachs.

 

* * *

 

“Hmmm…penalties for the Endurance Run…” Shinjiro stayed at his desk as the rest of the class worked on moving things around. While tapping his pen against his forehead, he pulled individual Hello Panda biscuits out of a bag, often stopping to play with the anime themed necklace under his shirt. “Guys, I need a hand. I need to decide on a penalty for the race at the start of the festival. Any suggestions?”

“Wow, you really are sticking to source material.”

“What was the penalty in the anime?”

Shinjiro almost laughed at the thought. “Well, whoever came in last place appeared in a 20-page gravure photoshoot in some huge magazine.”

“Well, that isn’t much of a problem if the loser was female.”

“It was four males.”

“Ah.”

“Anyway, I need a hand trying to come up with one. I don’t wanna use the same one.” Most of the boys stopped and thought on it for a few moments, until they relayed ideas.

Geoff: “Clean the bathroom after Owen?”

Brody: “Eating bus station burritos?”

Duncan: “Having cold water shoved down their pants?”

DJ was just unnerved by all of them. “I don’t know, something to do with the festival?”

Bridgette stopped cleaning for a while and looked over. “You know that teacher in the wheelchair? Miaya, I think her name is? Chris wants to make that rabbit she talks through into a mascot. You know, loads of merchandise and stuff to do with them.”

“Hmm…” Shinjiro pondered. “In that case, I have an idea. Kizakura-sensei!” Said teacher, drunk and lounging on his chair, looked up at him. “Can you check if there’s a student in the other school who’s good at sewing?”

“Hmm? Oh, sure, how come?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, it was probably kind of obvious those guys would be the 79th Class, but whatever. There is an explanation for this, which I'll point out at some point in this story in the notes. Also, Kaito's FTEs say that he speaks English and Russian fluently as well as Japanese, so it would make more sense for him to know about Total Drama than the others.  
> Next time: the Endurance Run starts.


	25. Hope's Peak's Totally Dramatic Endurance Race

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the school festival gets underway, the previous Total Drama characters make a return, Chris and Byakuya make a bet, and Tomoko encounters someone she didn't expect to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - may not contain as much drama as the title implies.  
> I will admit, the following chapters will be more about fitting every character in somewhere, rather than any actual storyline, but I will see what I can do. Giving early warning so I don't have to give the same old "this won't be that good" line before every new chapter.

By the start of May, the Neo Hope’s Peak Academy’s 1st School Festival was about to begin. Event number one: Hope’s Peak’s Totally Dramatic Endurance Run. Now set up outside the gates of the school were a few gazebos, with a row of tables beside it. On these tables were well over a hundred items – not one person there other than Chris knew about their significance – and a course had been lined out for those who were running.

Behind the starting line was every student of the Neo Hope’s Peak, as well as the Ridonculous Race contestants who weren’t students. Not all of the teachers were competing, however. Chisa opted to supporting her students from the sidelines (and so she could be with Kyosuke and Juzo), Miaya’s wheelchair gave her an unfair advantage, and, well…take one guess as to why Kizakura wasn’t racing. The former students of the 78th Class were all on board, though. Komaru wanted to join in, but couldn’t because she still wasn’t a student, and never was in the past – with this in mind, Ryota _had_ been allowed to do it. With a bit of encouragement from the Imposter, the two decided to race together.

Seiko, Ruruka and Izayoi were off to the side as well, with Seiko back to full health, and thanks to Kitty all seemed to be getting along like they used to. In direct contrast, though, the Police Cadets were back to _their_ old ways with the Ice Dancers.

“Will those four ever stop?” Kitty asked Tomoko, both of whom were stood alongside Ibuki, Kiyotaka, Mondo and Chihiro.

“Probably not. At the way they’re going, we’re all doomed if they end up on a second season together.”

In the meantime, Heather was stood off to the side with Junko and Alejandro, looking over at the table full of random items. “I’m assuming that’s some kind of prize table. If so, one of those prizes better be money!”

“No offence, but compared to people like Sakura, Lightning, even my pathetic excuse of a sister, you don’t stand much of a chance of winning.” Junko grinned, causing Heather to give her the evils.

“Shut it, Junko. Just you wait. I’ll be the one to win this.”

“She may have a point.” Heather gawked while her boyfriend continued. “This isn’t a full-blown game, it’s a test of speed and strength. Mind games aren’t going to work this time.”

“Great,” Noah said, watching the lovers quarrel unfold from a distance with his own girlfriend. “and here we thought one fight was bad enough.”

“Those two are kind of like the Ice Dancers of Camp Wawanakwa,” Emma added. “Wouldn’t you think so?”

“Hey buddy!” Owen appeared from behind them, with a group of Class 5 boys (plus Ian and Leon). Owen was fine, and maybe DJ and Ian, but the rest of them were the last people he wanted to see while he was Emma.

“Woah, Noah dude! Almost forgot about you and Emma!”

“You guys going steady?”

“So the bookworm has a girlfriend, and I don’t. I’ll admit, I didn’t see that coming.”

“You’re Emma then? Kitty’s sister?”

Before Noah could yell at them to butt out of his love life, the familiar sound of an airhorn turned everyone’s attention to a small stage beside the gazebos. Chris had a megaphone on him, and began talking to the group through it.

“Good morning students, and welcome to everyone else! To get our school festival rolling, we’ve decided to organise an event in homage to the origin of the Neo Hope’s Peak Academy – that’s what we’ve decided to call it now – an event designed to push our former contestants to the limit. That being, the Hope’s Peak Totally Dramatic Endurance Run!”

“Talk about exposition,” Sierra muttered.

“The game is simple. Every contestant will have to run 20km following the trail – 10k there and 10km back – and either scan their ElectroID in the scanner, or collect one of the Travel Tips from the Don Box. Make it back here first, and you win. To make sure everything goes according to plan and to keep things in order, a couple of rules have been put into place. No killing other contestants or causing severe injuries, and no flying, whatever the reason why.

“As you may have already guessed, that over there is a prize table. They range from monetary prizes to bags of chips, and each one is numbered. Your final position in the race obviously determines which prize you win. There are 119 of you taking part, but only 115 prizes over there. That’s because the bottom four to place won’t receive one…and whoever comes in _last place_ will receive a penalty!”

“Woah, I didn’t think he’d actually use the penalty idea. Guess he is sticking to the source material.” Shinjiro then noticed the looks from his classmates. “What? Don’t blame me, blame Hiro Mashima!”

“There will be no dropouts allowed, unless a player is _seriously_ injured. And I think that’s about it. Everyone, to the starting line!”

On that signal, the more competitive people started trying to force their way to the front, causing the less bothered people to get shoved even further back. With one of those people being Byakuya, Chris called him over. “Hey, wanna make a friendly bet?”

“Friendly? Really?”

“We both know you aren’t the most athletic one out of all of them, so how about we make a contest of it?”

“And what would the terms be?”

“If you place in the top half – 60th or above – then I have to do something for you. If you don’t, however, you have to do what I want _you_ to.”

Byakuya didn’t confirm the bet, but someone different (Hagakure) happened to overhear it. “Interesting…”

“Everyone ready?” By this point, said person from before was muttering news of this bet to everyone around him.

“Set…” those people smirked and began scheming to themselves.

“…RACE!”

Almost immediately, Hagakure, Kazuichi and Teruteru had decided push through the crowds in order to make a show of sabotaging Byakuya’s race. Hagakure and Teruteru headed straight for their old classmates, while Kazuichi sprinted towards the more athletic people in the front, even though most of them were already far ahead. Among them was Duncan’s crowd, with Brody trailing behind them. “Hey, bro! Spread the word, Byakuya Togami made a bet with Chris! Let’s make him lose!”

“Leave it to us, dude!” Brody gave him the thumbs up and began relaying the information to the rest of his group.

 

* * *

 

While the Race went on, Chris was sat at the finish line watching it through the cameras, alongside Chef and Don. Chris was drinking coffee out of his usual squirrel flask, while the other two were just focused on who was where. As expected, the more athletic ones such as Lightning, Akane, Nekomaru etc. were very far in the lead. Much to their surprise, the Ice Dancers and Police Cadets weren’t in the top 10, and neither were Sakura or Hina.

“Hmm, this is interesting.” Don turned on the video footage where the two friends were on the course. As it turned out, Hina was already quite tired after 5km, and naturally, Sakura was there to help and support her through it. Satisfied with an answer, he turned it off.

“What about the Dancers and Cadets?” Chef asked.

“Oh, believe me. I already know why they’re so far behind.”

…

As Owen and Noah got into the top half of the leader board, they ran past MacArthur having tackled both Ice Dancers, with Sanders trying to convince her to let go.

…

“Jeez,” Chris moaned. “I was hoping for a ton of drama. Other than what’s most likely happening with those four, nothing’s really going on.”

“This isn’t a new episode of Total Drama. This is just something to raise funds for the academy.”

“Still, there’s a reason we’re doing…hold on, who’s that?” Chris pointed to the screen, where an unknown person was approaching the light music club group. Chef switched the display on the monitor to the nearest possible camera.

“Don’t tell me that’s…”

 

* * *

 

The three bandmates in Black Cherry 2.0, as Ibuki tended to call them now, were nearing the checkpoint. Tomoko appeared to be the only one focused on the running, while Ibuki was heavily sweating and Kitty was flashing a number of photos.

“Are we…nearly…there yet…?”

“Almost. I think Komaru’s giving out water further ahead. After that it’s about 200m from the checkpoint.”

“Thank God!”

Around this point, Tomoko was starting to feel exhausted, opting to lean against a tree. “Hey, you two go on ahead of me. I’ll catch up in a bit.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, go ahead.” They did so, with Kitty practically dragging Ibuki along behind her. Taking a few deep breaths and resting against the tree, she waited until she became less tired. However, with her two best friends further ahead of her, there wasn’t as much motivation to keep going than before.

“Tomoko!”

_Oh God, of all the people_. She’d expected to see everyone from the show, but it was still quite a surprise to hear Amy approaching her from behind, and calling her by name nonetheless. If it was any other situation, maybe she wouldn’t have minded, but given the events of freshman year, and the fact that the mean twin was still suspect to her best friend’s death…

The motivation to continue came crashing back. Tomoko stopped leaning against the tree and immediately started running, getting a little faster after Amy called her a second time. She didn’t even bother to look behind her, but Amy was persistent. For some reason. “Come on, can’t you stop for just two minutes?”

She did. Not because she had a sudden change of heart, but because it didn’t _sound_ like Amy this time. There was no valley girl tone, and not one insult thrown into the mix. Out of curiosity, Tomoko did turn around…and her jaw dropped open.

It did kind of look like Amy, but it still didn’t. Same blonde hair, only a bit longer. Same colours, but in a completely different outfit: gone was the cheer uniform, and in its place, was a normal white top and a short red pleated skirt, with a red scrunchie round her wrist and a pale red hoodie round her waist. Her boots were now flat, and she had not one trace of makeup on.

There was a plethora of things Tomoko had been wanting to say to her if she ever saw her again, but what came out wasn’t any of them.

“What the actual hell.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Hiro Mashima is the manga artist of Fairy Tail  
> Next time: Amy's true nature is revealed, and the Race comes to an end


	26. Fight to the Finish

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tomoko and Amy form a team for the Race, and we see the result of Byakuya/Chris' bet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the late update. This one caused me a lot of problems while writing it, so yes, it is particularly awful.

"Am I missing something here?"

"Probably."

"I just...wh-what the heck is this? No insults, no valley speak, no skimpy outfit? Who are you and what have you done with the real Amy?"

"Well, when I imagined this conversation in my head, I was expecting more curse words and punching. I guess that's something."

"You're not answering my question." Before she could, however, a group of five people could be spotted in the distance.

"Oh crap!" Amy suddenly grabbed Tomoko's arm and pulled her behind a tree that just so happened to be nearby, and big enough for both of them. "Sorry about that. Those are the last people I want to see right now." As they went past, Tomoko could see who she meant: Sammy, Jasmine, Shawn, Kiyotaka and Mondo.

"Yeah, I get it." Once they were gone, both girls came out from behind the tree. "So, you're really Amy, and not some imposter or cosplayer or something?"

"Before you say anything like I imagined you would, just hear me out, okay?" She took in a breath, before looking at Tomoko directly in the eyes. "I know what you're thinking, but I had nothing to do with your friend dying. I know it all seems like I did, what with Taka getting attacked by that lookalike, and me having no reason for being out of school at the time. I don't care if you don't believe me, but it's all the truth."

The intern listened intently, a bit down following the sudden mention of her old best friend, but still interested.

"If you want nothing to do with me after everything, fine. But all I ask is, at the very least, is for you to believe me. Hell, maybe we could even...get along? Not necessarily as friends, but acquaintances..."

Some seconds passed with no response, until Tomoko sighed and extended a hand. "Fine, acquaintances." Grinning, Amy shook it a bit too hard. "And I'm guessing you want to team up for this race?"

"I-if that's okay with you."

Another silence followed, as the usual smack-talking between MacArthur and Josee could be heard in the distance. "Sure. What the hell. So long as you can keep up with me."

Both girls then took off at yet another sprint before they got caught up in that feud behind them. Tomoko didn't bother to check for herself, but she was quite certain Amy never stopped smiling for the next few minutes.

 

* * *

 

Back at the finish line, Chris had decided to provide a running commentary of what was happening. “Most of our players have reached the halfway checkpoint, and unsurprisingly, it looks like a very close match for first place. Akane, Nekomaru, Jo and Lightning are all tied for first, while Sakura and Hina are coming close behind. No, wait, Sky is now alongside them! Quite surprisingly, however, the Ice Dancers and Police Cadets are around 20th place at the moment, due to their constant arguing.”

“Hey, those Ice Dancers will do anything to win. Give it a few more minutes, and they’ll be sabotaging anyone in front of them.”

“What surprises me,” Chef added, “is how Tomoko and that-girl-who-might-be-Amy aren’t falling behind them yet.”

“Regardless, everyone’s getting closer to the finish line. We should probably get ready for them to reach the finish.”

\- - - **IN THE MEANTIME** \- - -

Hearing Tomoko sighing, Amy ran forwards a little further. “What’s up with you?”

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but are the Cadets and Ice Dancers _still_ behind us?”

“Who?”

“From the Ridonculous Race,” with no response from Amy, Tomoko groaned and found a different description. “Ugh, the four people who are always arguing.”

“Oh, yeah. They’re still behind us. And so’s the blonde jerk with the glasses.” As she said this, Byakuya started running ahead of all six of them. As this happened, the yelling between Josee and MacArthur got louder.

“Great…when will those four ever shut up?!”

“You want to stop it? Watch this,” Amy leaned forward, pulled Tomoko’s arm backwards causing her to stop, which then lead to the four rivals crashing into them. As they tried to move to the left, Amy pulled Tomoko in the same direction. She did the same as they tried to go to the right.

“Do you mind?! We have a race to win!”

“Can you both stop sabotaging each other for once?”

MacArthur scoffed. “And who do you expect us to sabotage instead?”

“Tomoko, do you have a picture of Byakuya?” Confused, she handed over her ElectroID with Byakuya’s profile on it, which Amy showed to the Ice Dancers. “This guy just went past us. If he doesn’t place in the top 60, he has to do anything Chris McLean tells him to.”

The four enemies exchanged a look, before MacArthur and Josee smirked evilly and running away, with Jacques following after a while. In the meantime, Sanders muttered to Amy…somehow not knowing it was her.

“Great, now the Axis of Evil is happening again.”

 

* * *

 

Approximately 10 minutes after that, it was still a tough battle at the front of the pack between Nekomaru, Akane, Jo and Lightning. Nekomaru and Akane appeared to be half-rivals and half-in-an-alliance, while Jo and Lightning were still trash-talking one another.

“Outta the way, Jo! This race belongs to the Lightning!”

“As if you can keep going for much longer. Get ready to lose to a girl…again!”

“Oh yeah? Who made it to the finale in season 4?”

At those words, a fuming Jo took off at an even faster speed.

“Ah, hey!” After Lightning started running after her, Akane and Nekomaru exchanged a look. “Great, and here I thought we’d be able to win.”

“Sorry Nidai- _ossan_ ,” Akane said, holding a jar of green liquid, “but I’m gonna have to beat you this time.” Almost as soon as Nekomaru realised the contents of that jar, Akane had downed it and was already experiencing muscle enhancements. Before too long, she had gained a ton of ground on Nekomaru, leaving the SHSL Manager in the dust.

…

Having moved base to the finish line, the three hosts waited for the first person to arrive. Chris had his binoculars out, gazing out into the distance, while Chef and Don were ready to hand out the prizes. Although if he was being honest, Don was skeptical about the quality of some of them. Sure, most of them looked decent enough, but that being said--

"And here they come!"

About 100m from the end were the distant figures of Jo, Lightning, Sky, an incredibly ripped Akane, Nekomaru a bit further behind, and even further back from him, Chris could see two purple blurs.

"As to be expected, all the most athletic people are in a race for first place! And also to be expected, Byakuya isn't part of that group." Chris smirked at that last part.

As the group got closer to the finish line, MacArthur and the Ice Dancers pushed into the group, with first place position looking like it could go to anyone.

"And the winner is..."

...

...

...

"...nobody."

As it turned out, as Josee took the first place spot, MacArthur did her usual thing of tackling her to the floor. However, immediately after that, Jo had failed to notice that and tripped over the top of them. Then, after Lightning, Sky and Jacques landed on top of them, Sky had accidentally grabbed onto Akane's (for some reason, far longer) hair, causing her and Nekomaru to round off the pile.

The three hosts watched in confusion as all of them tried to get out from underneath Nekomaru, wondering what to do, when another equally as athletic player ran past them.

"Wha-- Sanders?!"

"The winner," Chris declared, "is Sanders!"

While MacArthur looked happy by this, Jo didn't follow the same sentiment, especially when she saw who was coming behind them.

"Second place goes to Sakura! Third to Hina, and fourth place is Brick!"

"What?! I didn't even beat _him_?!"

As Jo continued whining, Sanders opened the envelope she'd been given as a prize. What fell out was a slip of paper reading, in very scruffy handwriting: _IOU - $20,000_.

"First of all, twenty thousand? And secondly, why an IOU?"

"I'm waiting until after the festival's done, so then I'll know how much we've got to play with for rebuilding."

"But isn't that a little much?"

"I thought Heather might have won it so she'd stop whining."

 

* * *

 

After the pile-on had ended, Sky had come fifth, Jo sixth, MacArthur seventh, Jacques eighth, Josee ninth, Lightning tenth, Akane eleventh, and Nekomaru came twelfth after everyone had gotten out from underneath him.

Anyone else who's won a monetary prize (basically 1st to 10th place) was also met with a IOU, and while she may not have won, Akane was content enough with a set of food coupons. Arriving at the finish afterwards were Jasmine, Shawn, Mondo, Kiyotaka and Chihiro in that order, followed by Alejandro, Heather, Duncan, DJ, then there was a slightly longer gap.

"Tomoko, you're in 22nd place. Amy-look-alike, 23rd." Both girls hit the floor in an attempt to catch their breath again.

"Well, who'd have thought. We're in the top quarter."

"Yeah, who'd have thought?"

...

Following after Tomoko and Amy were other people who were athletically capable, but not on the same level as the top 12. While watching more people file in, Tomoko nudged Amy. "I'm probably gonna go back. I'll admit, I was surprised by you today."

"Wait," Amy grabbed Tomoko's sleeve. "If it's okay with you, do you think you could maybe...I dunno, show me round the school festival tomorrow?"

"Oh crap!" Chris said in the distance, turning both their attention towards him. "While Ibuki and Kitty place 45th and 46th, could Byakuya be next?!"

In the distance, MacArthur and Josee shared an evil look. "It's sabotage time." Both of them prepared to make a sprint towards the affluent progeny, when they saw the person directly behind trip over and fall on top of him.

"Hagakure! Get off me!"

"My bad, Togami-chi." He got up off him, taking 47th place from him and allowing two more people to pass Byakuya. In the meantime, the two enemies looked at each other again.

"Clearly, we aren't needed here."

"That's what you think," Josee pointed over towards Noah and Owen, both of whom were approaching at a fast rate. And behind them was another large group. MacArthur handed Josee a candy bar she'd had in her pocket, as the female ice dancer climbed onto her shoulders and held it in the air.

"Hey, Ian!" His prize had been a large electric fan. "Can we borrow that a second?"

"Uh, sure..." He turned it on and got closer to the two of them. "You know it might not work, right? Especially because it hasn't been made fresh."

"Watch and learn." Much to Ian's surprise, it was working. Owen had started running at full speed towards the finish, landing on top of Byakuya in the process. Thanks to this new obstruction, everyone in the group behind Owen managed to cross the finish, with Owen getting up in time to get in behind them. Byakuya was able to pick himself up quickly and sprint past the finish line.

His final position? 61st place.

As Josee, MacArthur and a couple of others laughed at the fact he’d lost his bet, Tomoko finally managed to find the right words to reply to Amy.

“Meet me outside the school tomorrow morning.”

“Wait, really?!” However, she’d already left the area. Realising how easy it had been to get somewhat on her good side, she shrugged it off and watch Chris & Byakuya.

“Chris…I never agreed to the bet! Besides, who here even managed to find…” his eyes then drifted to Hagakure, who sheepishly scratched the back of his head.

“…fine. If everyone else knows about it, there’s no hiding it. So…what am I supposed to do?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The thing with Akane, for those who don't know, was the Doping Corn Soup from the anime.  
> Next time: day 1 of the festival


	27. School Ordeal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On the first day of the Neo Hope's Peak school festival, Tomoko and Amy look at book stalls and a merchandise booth, while trying to keep Amy's identity a secret.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part one of two, of day 1. The focus of this one is Tomoko and Amy (and learning a little more about Nice Amy on the way).  
> Also, decided to update earlier because of the delay with the last one.

"Alright, it shouldn't be much longer until people start arriving. We've got most of the stalls set up by now - we're still waiting on half of the Victory Road, plus the helpers from the other school, who should be here in..." Chris checked his phone (which now had a rather...amusing image of Byakuya on the wallpaper), "about five hours. So all we're missing now is...Chef, I thought you gave it to him!"

"Oh, don't worry Chris. I've got it alright." Stood behind the two hosts was Dave, but anyone who hadn't seen the end result of the Endurance Run wouldn't know that. Having finished in last place, the penalty he received was having to wear a mascot costume for the festival. The suit was a recreation of the Usami AI that Miaya always spoke through, as discussed by Class 5. "This suit is clean, right?"

"Trust me, Dave. You're the first person to wear it. Well, except for Chihiro so we could get the size right, but that's all.”

"Fine." While the two were talking, Amy used this opportunity to sneak past them, as to avoid being noticed. Specifically for the occasion, she was now wearing her hoodie normally and had used her scrunchie to put her hair in a ponytail. Also stashed in her bag were her purse, plus a beanie and a pair of fake glasses, and her beauty mark was covered up.

Getting closer to the entrance hall, Amy spotted the person she'd been looking for. Tomoko, surprisingly, was in her school uniform rather than casual clothes. Deep down, the older twin cursed the fact that she'd left the school before she could try one of them.

"Morning, Tomoko!"

"Good morning Amy." She looked up at her and took a bite of something. Clearly, she was still sceptical about this whole thing. Amy was just relieved that she wasn't the kind of person to visibly hold a grudge. "How are your legs doing now?"

"They still hurt a little bit. Yours?"

"I've done a lot worse than that, so I'm fine."

"How come you're still in a uniform?"

"Some of our stalls aren't finished yet, so people who have nothing to do need to walk around in their uniforms, just in case someone needs help."

"Oh, I get it." Amy then sniffed the air. "Who's been cooking?"

"Me. Sometimes I make these kinds of things for breakfast. This one's apricot and ginger flavoured." Tomoko held up a circular pastry. "Want one?"

She wanted to say no. She wanted to do anything to get into Tomoko's good books for definite, and taking her food off of her wasn't the way to do it. But she only accepted the offer since she herself had completely forgotten to eat breakfast.

"...holy-- this is awesome! Are you sure you're not the SHSL Chef instead of SHSL Intern?"

"Sure. My new title was supposed to be the SHSL Polyglot, but that ended up going to Ezekiel. As for the cooking, my mom was the SHSL Chef when she went to the old Hope's Peak." She stopped to check the time quickly. "So, would you rather look around when there's more people, or before everyone arrives?"

 

* * *

 

Another hour had passed until the girls decided to go into the main building and look around. In the time leading up to that, Tomoko was part of the group in charge of welcoming people to the school, while Amy stood back and watched her doing it, all the while savouring the other breakfast pastries she'd gotten off her.

The first stall that the two of them came across was a stall that was selling merchandise for Total Drama and the TDAc series. Manning said stall was Topher and Sierra, who were wearing Total Drama t-shirts. More of them were tacked on a board behind them, not to mention everything else spread out on the tables in front of them.

"Ah! Morning Tomoko!"

"Sierra, Topher. So, was this your idea or Chris'?"

"A bit of both. We wanna see to it that the show's fan base is still alive, while Chris wants to use it as an excuse to make more money."

"Why does that not surprise me? Anyway, what kind of merchandise have you got here?"

"All kinds!" The way Topher was acting seemed to switch to his 'host mode'. "We've got mugs, t-shirts, hand towels, bobble heads, even action figures! Not to mention the smaller novelty things: pencils, wristbands, buttons, and even art prints."

Tomoko did recognise a few things there: Dave's button from when he tried to get himself eliminated, Noah's caricature from the Ridonculous Race, and replicas of Chris/Chef's bobble heads from World Tour, just to name a few. But a few things confused the two girls.

"Uh, why isn't there merchandise for everyone?"

"And why doesn't Cody have anything? He’s technically a main character."

"What, do you think we're made of money? Also, this is just for day 1. We have more on the way for the rest of the week. So for now, it's just for the main characters in the series. As for the Cody merch..." Topher pointed down towards Sierra's bag, which was almost overflowing. He then leaned over and whispered to the girls. "I'd wait until she goes on her bathroom break."

...

"What are doujins?" Amy asked Harold and Hifumi, using her actual voice. "Is it something to do with anime?"

"They're self-published works, and they can be novels, manga comics or magazines. Ours are manga books."

"Of course, doujin artists may also base their creations off of existing series, and being the SHSL Doujin Author, I am a master at both!"

"Have you got any spoiler free ones for Assassination Classroom?"

"Is that some series you're into?"

"Yeah, I'm having a contest to try and finish it first against Shinjiro."

"I think we might have one." As Harold rummaged through a box underneath the table, Amy picked one up on the left hand side of the table. "Is this an original one?" She began leafing through it.

"Why, indeed it is!" Hifumi pushed his glasses up. "Were you interested in purchasing a copy of it?"

"It actually looks pretty good, so yeah, why not? How much?"

...

As they continued looking at all the different stalls that had been set up, Tomoko was relatively surprised at Amy having bought Hifumi's works.

"I didn't know you were interested in this kind of thing. Is this another hidden secret of yours?"

"You may not have been able to tell, obviously, but yeah. I'm a bit of a nerd for stuff like fanfiction and Vocaloid too. I've only seen one anime though - it's called Special A."

"If that's the case, what would your main fandom be?" Tomoko never once imagined she'd ever ask  _that_ question to  _Amy_.

"Heathers. Without a doubt. I think I prefer the musical more, only because the songs are so great!"

"Good morning, Fukuhara-kun!"

"Eek!" Amy quickly hid behind Tomoko as they heard Kiyotaka approaching from down the corridor. He too was in his school uniform.

"Oh, morning Ishimaru-kun. What are you thinking about the festival right now?"

"It's all looking very well organised at the moment! I haven't seen everything yet, but I'm hoping to have got around most things by the end of the day." He then noticed the other person hiding behind her. "Is that a friend of yours?"

"Huh? Oh, her." It took some effort, but she managed to push Amy in front of her. "This is an old classmate of mine from my previous school, Am..." Tomoko suddenly realised that using **_Amanda_ ** might be too obvious. "...Mandy. Her name's Mandy."

Kiyotaka extended a hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you! I'm Fukuhara-kun's classmate, Kiyotaka Ishimaru!" Amy hesitantly shook it.

_"H-ha...jime...ma...shite."_

"She's kind of shy around new people."

"I see. Well, I hope to see you both around later!"

"And you," Tomoko waved after her friend, before turning to Amy with even more surprise. "You can speak Japanese?"

"A bit. Enough to get me out of a conversation if I run into anyone I don't want to see."

"Well, it's better than some people here."

...

The next stall the two wanted to stop off at, only Tomoko ended up going to. The reason: Sammy was manning it alongside Toko.

"If you see any fantasy or murder mystery books, can you pick one up for me?" Amy had asked before Tomoko went ahead. It did look like there were a handful.

"Anything in particular you're looking for?"

"Any fantasy or murder mystery novels for my friend over there," she pointed at Amy, who was now reading her doujin, "and Fukawa-san, if you have any of yours?"

"T-this one hasn't been bought as much as some other ones, s-so it m-might be your thing."

 _You say that like I'm a hipster or something._ The cover was white and yellow, the title reading The Family From the Day Before Yesterday. Sammy happened to notice there was no blurb on it.

"Ooh, I see. You don’t usually have summaries on literature like this, so you’re going in blind. Makes it more interesting."

"At least you understand that m-more than Komaru."

"Anyway, who is that friend of yours over there? I thought you only ever mentioned...uh, you know..."

"Yeah, she's not really a friend. I was in her class at my old school. Her name's Mandy, and she's not great around new people."

"Tell me about it," Sammy mouthed at Tomoko, glancing quickly over at Toko.

She paid for three books and went back over to Amy, scooping her book out and handing her the rest of them. "Thanks for that, I appreciate it. Really."

"It's no problem. Hard to believe even Sammy couldn't figure it out."

"Any idea where we can get a drink? I'm exhausted."

"Unfortunately for you, it's back downstairs and outside."

"Ugh." Tomoko led the way back towards the entrance hall, with Amy groggily following behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: the rest of day 1


	28. School Ordeal Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continuation from the last chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Earlier update due to the delay with posting not too long ago. Also, I want to move on to the next installment asap.

It wasn't that hard to miss the food Victory Road. Two rows of colourful stalls (some of which were still being set up) created a pathway for visitors to walk along, with a cluster of benches at the far end of it. There was also a banner with the words " _Victory Road of Food_ " written on it, plus the Japanese equivalent _"食物のビクトリロード_ written underneath. The one that the duo were interested in right now was the one that sold cold drinks. Waiting behind it were Bridgette, Mikan and Leonard. Tammy was already waiting in front of it, probably to keep Leonard company. Amy insisted on getting the drinks for them, while Tomoko went ahead to bag one of the tables. However, she was stopped on the way there.

"Fukuhara-chan! Over here!" Asahina waved from her stall, which looked like it hadn't seen much business. Alongside her were Sakura, Chihiro and Shinjiro. "How've you been so far today?"

"It's been good. I met up with someone from my last high school, who I honestly didn't think I'd ever end up becoming friends with. Her over there buying drinks."

"So, how would you like to be our first customer? We're doing fried food here."

"Let me guess. Donuts are part of the menu."

"That is correct."

"In that case, I'll have ten of those, and a bowl of fries. Also, can I talk with Shinjiro quickly?"

"Sure thing!" As they got to work on Tomoko's order, Shinjiro did his thing with his glasses.

"Nice try, but she's not your friend from school."

"That's what I wanted to tell you. In reality, that's Amy."

"...then why try and cover up her identity if she's a former contestant?" The look on Tomoko's face made Shinjiro continue. "I'm over the crush for the last time, and I don't get why she's suddenly trying to be out of the spotlight."

"It's because of the whole thing with Satoko. Most people probably think she did it, or if not that, then they think she's the one who went after Ishimaru-kun."

"That does make sense, I guess. And don't worry about me telling anyone. But off topic, I want daily updates throughout the festival on what you get up to."

"Are you sure you're over the crush?"

"It's just so I can find out more about her. Because let's face it, she'd never bother to tell me."

Tomoko sighed. "Fine, it's a deal. I'll see you later, okay?" She picked up her food from Chihiro and ran towards the benches before they all went, then waiting for Amy to show up with the drinks.

"Sorry it took so long," she dropped two cups onto the table. "I didn't really know what kind of drink you like, so I just went for a cola."

"That's fine. Thanks. I picked up some stuff too." For the first time in a while, the two of them sat in silence for some time, munching on fries, the only sound being the conversations taking place around them, and the quiet music from the speakers.

"Uh, how have you found the day so far?"

"I've actually enjoyed it. There's a bit more to the school than I remember, I meant to say earlier."

"All thanks to the Aftermath show. It raised a ton, but we're banking on the school festival and Total Drama's popularity to make even more money. That way, we might be able to get way more stuff the others will like."

"How much do you have to do with all the decision making and that now?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know, is Chris still treating you like an intern in school?"

"Fortunately, no. Besides, interns aren't in charge of the admin jobs anyway. It's all about testing the challenges, and that's that."

"And here I thought being a _SHSL_ Intern meant you did even more jobs than necessary."

"Actually, I got it because I'm the youngest ever. I got the job when I first moved to Canada five years ago."

Amy almost spat out her drink. "So you got the interning job when you were 13?!"

"Twelve, actually."

"Is that even legal?!"

"With Chris, who cares?" The girls finished eating their lunch and went off to another area: the classroom which would soon be turned into the _daten_ cafe.

"What the hell's a daten cafe?"

"Think of it like a fusion between a maid cafe and a butler cafe."

Not many people were in there, except for Chisa, DJ and Teruteru.

"Fukuhara-san! Are you having a good time?"

"Yeah, it's all looking pretty good so far. Oh, this is Mandy. She was my classmate at my old school." Chisa and Teruteru smiled, while DJ waved. Amy actually smiled back at them this time. "Is there any way I can help set up in here?"

"Well, I was just finishing with the cleaning in here. After that, there are the tables that need setting up. In the meantime, maybe Hanamura-kun and DJ-kun need help with the food?"

"Already? Well, okay then." As the two girls made their way to the makeshift kitchen, Tomoko whispered in Amy's ear. "Quick reminder, Teruteru is a pervert, so be careful."

"Oh please, he's one of the only ones I remembered."

...

From the looks of it, cooking or baking wasn't necessary. There were already loads of different dishes on one of the tables, with the same three foodstuffs on them.

"So, how exactly can we help out?" "I guess just taste testing some of these," DJ pointed at the plates. "We're gonna go round everyone else after, but since the two of you are here..."

The girls then read over some of the tags in front of the dishes: _gyoza, creme caramel/pudding, Usami cake_ , and so on.

"Hmm, so things really have changed a lot."

"Anyway, feel free to try as much as you want!"

As Tomoko picked up one of the gyoza, Amy eyed the bunny shaped cake with confusion. "What's with the bunny motif on everything?"

"It's a very long story. But if everyone else is using it, we thought we might as well."

"Okay, I rate the gyoza a solid 8," Tomoko picked up a spoon and went in for some of the creme caramel as Amy cut off a bit of the Usami cake.

"So, how much longer until your stall's ready, Tomoko?"

"Ishimaru and I are gonna finish it off after the two of us are done up here. The pudding gets a 10, by the way."

"I give the cake a 9. Is that everything you wanted us to try?"

"These are what we think the best sellers will be, so we want them to be the best they can be!"

"Maybe we should start helping your teacher now, otherwise we'll be too full to go anywhere," Amy suggested, leaving the kitchen area to assist Chisa with laying out tablecloths and such. It wasn't too long until the other three joined in.

Tomoko was interrupted from this by an alert on her ElectroID. "Shoot! I didn't know he was waiting for me! Let's go, Mandy! See you later, DJ, Hanamura-kun, Yukizome-sensei!" Grabbing her hand, she ran with Amy out of the classroom.

"Woah, slow down! What's with the rush all of a sudden?"

"Ishimaru's waiting for me outside so we can set up the stall."

"What? In the food road thing?"

"Yep."

"You mean we have to go  _all the way back down there_?  ** _Again?!_** "

"Oh, suck it up."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: the 79th class arrive in Canada to help out with the festival


	29. Seventy Nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some of the members of the 79th Class start helping out at the different stalls.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the delay in updating, I was working on this chapter quite a lot and I still don't like how it ends, but you're stuck with it. As usual, there's no guarantee this chapter will be any good.

By Tuesday morning, Tomoko's stall, the ramen stand, was all set up, but she still had to get there early in order to get the food itself ready. Once again, Amy was waiting for her outside the school gates, although it took longer to spot her. Until her head popped out from a bush.

"Tomoko, get over here," she motioned for her.

"What are you doing?!"

"Hiding from Mondo." She pointed at the gates, where Mondo and Chihiro were stood. "I need you around to help me get through him and Chihiro."

"Alright. Fine. Come on then," Tomoko pulled her up and the two walked past the boys, both of them nodding at them as they did. "So for today, since there are only two people manning the stall - me and Ishimaru - I'll need you to help us out when one of us leaves. Do you think you'll be okay with that?"

"Meh, I can give it a try. Wait, huh?"

Both girls stopped when they reached the Victory Road of Food. While it did look different because of the completed stalls, they didn't expect the sign at the entrance to it to look far more extravagant than before. Drawings of ramen bowls were on either side of the text, and they looked so realistic both girls were on the verge of drooling.

Tomoko then noticed that alongside Kiyotaka at the ramen stand, there were two other boys she'd never seen before, plus an older woman. The girls approached them, and the woman was first to notice. She had black hair, and her outfit was

"Oh, so you must be Tomoko Fukuhara-san, right?"

"Yeah, and you are?"

"These three are from the original Hope's Peak Academy in Japan. It was rebuilt around the time my class and the 77th Class left."

"I'm the homeroom teacher of the 79th Class, Manami Asakawa. These two boys will be helping you with your stall here."

Like the other students here, both of them were in casual clothing. One was quite tall with purple hair, whose outfit was made up of a white shirt and purple trousers, a pair of slippers, and a purple coat with a galaxy pattern on the inside. The other boy was shorter and also had purple hair, but his clothing was a white...suit(?) - neither girl knew what to call it - with a checkerboard scarf.

The taller one introduced himself first. "My name is Kaito Momota, Luminary of the Stars, the SHSL Astronaut!"

"I'm Kokichi Ouma, the SHSL Supreme Leader."

Rather than question the latter's talent, Tomoko and Kiyotaka just introduced themselves too, Amy opting not to say anything for now.

"My name is Kiyotaka Ishimaru, the SHSL Moral Compass!"

"Tomoko Fukuhara, SHSL Intern."

"Well, I have a meeting with Naegi-kun, so I'll leave you to it. Have fun!" As Manami ran back towards the main building, Tomoko noticed the intense resemblance in terms of personality to her own homeroom teacher.

"Ah, so Mandy-kun's still here?"

"Huh?" She'd almost forgotten about her cling-on. "Oh yeah, she's decided to stay for the whole week. She's agreed to give us a hand when we need it. You are okay with that, right?"

"Of course! The more the merrier!"

The five of them all tried to squeeze into the (in all honesty) too small space behind the stall. By the time they realised they had a problem, Amy agreed to stand up on the outside, leaving the four students on the other side.

"So, how are lunch breaks and all that going to work?"

"We _are_ running a ramen stall. Why can't we just eat here?"

"Having ramen for lunch for the next four days will end up getting boring, won't it?"

"I'll bring something in on one day," everyone in the group put on an apron, while Tomoko kept the conversation going. "So Momota-kun and Ouma-kun, how did the two of you get into Hope's Peak?"

"Going to space has always been a dream of mine," Kaito started. "So I decided to take the exam in order to become an astronaut. Get this, I'm the only teenager to ever pass the exam!"

"I thought you needed to be in college before you could do that...?" Kiyotaka asked.

"Yeah, well, I had a friend who was crafty and forged a couple of things for me." The moral compass' face went as red as his eyes, to which Amy and Tomoko had to suppress a laugh. "I got caught for it in the end, but the people up top let me stay because of the exam."

"I'm just stunned you didn't get jail time for it," Tomoko said, before glancing at Kiyotaka. "Also, I think you might have ruined your chances of bonding with him."

"Still, that's really cool!" Amy spoke up, before turning to Kokichi. "How about you?"

"Oh, it's nothing really, Mandy-chan. I'm just the leader of an evil secret organisation with 10,000 members."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Hah, just kidding! I _am_ the leader of a secret organisation, but it only has ten people in it. We do things like vandalism and petty theft, nothing too big. So calm down already, Ishimaru-chan." Amy couldn't hold it in any longer and buried her face in her hoodie, unable to contain her laughter anymore, earning looks from all three boys. "This is going to be gold!"

"Uh huh...look, Ishimaru-kun, remember how you became friends with Oowada-kun, despite what you first thought of him? Maybe this will be the same, so can you at the very least give it a chance?" Eventually, Kiyotaka's face returned to its normal colour and he took a couple of breaths. "Alright. Thank you Fukuhara-kun."

"No problem," she grinned. "So let's get started then!"

 

* * *

 

And that wasn't the only place where helpers from the other school had joined in.

Over at the shooting gallery, which Fuyuhiko and MacArthur were currently running, Dwayne was surprisingly shooting down every can in the pile in front of him. For some undisclosed reason, each one had a monochromatic bear with a red right eye painted onto them. Their son Junior watched them, impressed.

"Woah, dad. How come you're so good at that?"

"It's like I told you before, kiddo. This is what men were born to do!"

"Are you sure about that?" A flat feminine voice spoke from behind the father and son, startling Dwayne in particular. "I'm assuming this is the shooting gallery?"

Fuyuhiko and MacArthur looked up at a girl their age with two very long, brown ponytails. She wore a red and black sailor fuku, and had an expression that reminded the two of Mukuro.

"Yeah. Why, you wanna have a go?"

"Actually I've been asked to help at this one. Maki Harukawa, 79th Class of Hope's Peak Academy."

"Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu, SHSL Yakuza, and MacArthur, SHSL Bad Cop."

"So what exactly is your talent if it means you've been put on this stall?"

Maki picked up the gun Dwayne had just been using, and took eight large steps away from the stall. She aimed at the can in the dead centre of the left hand pile, and with one pull of the trigger knocked all six of them to the floor. She then proceeded to do the exact same with the other two piles, before returning the gun and joining Fuyuhiko and MacArthur behind the stall. The two noticed that she'd hit each can directly in the area where the bear's red eye was.

"I'll let you work it out for yourself." She bent down to pick up the cans. "Well? Are you going to stare all day?"

"Oh, my bad." The other two students started helping to rearrange the piles, while Dwayne and Junior kept watching in awe.

"What the heck goes on at this school anyway?"

...

In the meantime, round the side of the school, there was another exhibit - the animal exhibition - where at the moment, both DJ and Gundam (the former in a suit) were stood. Currently, the only people there were the vegan team Laurie and Miles, who were petting the rabbits that DJ had brought along.

"I thought that you had other commitments at this festival."

"Teruteru let me stay on this exhibit until the helper from the old school shows up."

"So you will be working alongside Ms. Yukizome, the perverted one and the inhibited one, correct?"

"Um, excuse me," a rather large man in a dark green suit stood in front of them, carrying a couple of his own boxes. "Is this the animal exhibit? And are you two DJ-kun and Tanaka-kun?"

"Yeah, that's right. Are you the helper?"

"Yes. The SHSL Entomologist, Gonta Gokuhara. Gonta is looking forward to working with you both!"

"Actually, just Gundam. I'm on a different stall, but I'll see you around!" DJ waved at his Japanese counterpart before leaving for the main building.

“Oh, Gonta still needs to collect a few more boxes from his classmates. I understand Tanaka-kun is the SHSL Breeder, but does he know how to take care of bugs?”

Gundam’s silence gave him an answer. “Don’t let the bugs out of their enclosures, not even for a moment, unless Gonta’s here.”

“And why might that be?”

“The last time somebody did that…well, Gonta’s classmates got into quite a lot of trouble with Principal Munakata.”

...

By around 1:30pm, the Daten cafe was becoming quite crowded. For those unaware, think of it like a maid cafe fused with a butler cafe. On one of the tables sat Chisa Yukizome, alongside her two own Hope's Peak friends: Kyosuke Munakata and Juzo Sakakura. All three of them read over the menus they were given. A few people gave the three of them odd looks, what with one missing an eye and the other with a completely metal arm.

"My students really have done a great job putting this together!”

“I can definitely agree with that. Remember it isn’t just _your_ students doing this.”

“What has me surprised is how quickly this place was rebuilt after last year. Especially with that moron in charge of it.”

Out of nowhere, a woman who Chisa didn’t recognise pulled up the fourth chair at the table. “Ah, Munakata-san, Sakakura-san! This must be Yukizome-san that you always talk about!”

“That’s right. Chisa, this is Manami Asakawa, the teacher of the 79th Class.”

Both women shook hands as Manami took the seat beside Chisa. “It’s nice to meet you after all this time, Yukizome-san!”

“Same to you, Asakawa-san!” The smile that they both gave each other made both men realise how similar the two women were – the only difference was probably that Manami was more toned down. “How many students in your class are in here?”

“There should be two of them in here.”

Almost on cue, the SHSL Adventurer Rantaro Amami appeared at the table, smartly dressed in a tuxedo, carrying a notepad and pen.

“Ah, Asakawa-sensei. How are you enjoying the festival?”

“It all looks very nice, Amami-kun,” Manami beamed a smile at her student.

“Did you bring any of your siblings to the festival with you?” Kyosuke asked.

“Well, a few of them might be flying over later on in the week. Anyway, what exactly can I get you today?”

“We’ll have four of the “special sandwiches”, and…”

“Can we also have an Usami cake between us?” Manami finished Chisa’s order.

Rantaro scribbled it down. “Anything to drink?”

The four of them exchanged looks, and then Chisa placed the order. “Two black coffees, one tea, and one of your handmade cold drinks.”

“Thank you. Please bear with us while we prepare your order.” Rantaro closed his notebook and went back towards the kitchen area. Teruteru, still in his chef attire, was working hard at making the food, as were DJ and Kirumi.

“Alright, everyone. We’ve just had an order from four staff members. DJ, we need four of your sandwiches, on the double. Tojo-san, two coffees, black, a normal tea, and one of the special cold drinks.”

“Understood.”

“On it!”

“Hanamura-kun, are any of the Usami cakes ready yet?”

“Another five minutes, Amami-kun.”

Zoey then entered the kitchen, wearing a maid uniform, and loaded some hotdogs onto her tray, leaving almost immediately and taking them to another table.

“Get ready with table 7, you guys!” She called as the door closed behind her. In the meantime, Rantaro loaded up DJ’s sandwiches onto a tray while Kirumi continued preparing the drinks. Ian then picked up the tray and carried it out to the teachers’ table.

“Alright, four “special sandwiches”. Your drinks are just on the way.”

Ian received two bright smiles from the female teachers as he walked back to the kitchen. However, on the way past, he spotted two girls outside the door looking his way and giggling excitedly. He didn’t recognise either of them, but then two of his female classmates did the same. Out of embarrassment, he suddenly hid behind the empty tray and ran the rest of the route back to the kitchen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: Amy has the day to herself, and it should hopefully come out sooner.


	30. Amy's Day Off

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amy spends the day walking around the festival by herself. Includes the early stages of the Heathers references.

"Are you sure? What if someone notices you?"

"Then the hoodie goes up and I run back to the ramen stand! I have it all worked out."

Much to her surprise, Amy had decided to spend a day looking round the festival attractions herself. It was a risk, but if she had to choose between listening to Kokichi's blatant lying or risking having to deal with an Amy-hater should someone realise the elephant in the room, the choice was pretty obvious.

"Well, okay. As long as you don't go getting into trouble. I'll meet you in the Victory Road at 5:40 or so." The two girls went their separate ways, only for Amy to have to stop in the doorways. Crowded round the merchandise stall now was a swarming hoard of fans, some of whom Amy recognised from watching the Aftermath shows. She could only just make out Topher, Sierra and Chris struggling with the new workload.

Spotting her, Sierra crept away from the two boys in order to talk to her. "Mandy, wasn't it? Good to see you back here!"

"Yeah. Why are there so many people here now?"

"We added in themed cookies with the cast members faces on. There are boxes for each team throughout the series. Wanna try one?"

"Um, okay then." Sierra opened a tube of the cookies, this one apparently being the Ridonculous Race students and the three newcomers (Tess didn't have one). Amy reached in for the first one she could find, which happened to have Shinjiro's face on it. Biting into it, it had more of a cake-like texture than a biscuit.

"Is this one chocolate? It's good."

"Yeah, now you know why we've been getting so many people wanting to buy them already."

"I think I'll buy some then."

...

Having stuffed the Killer Bass themed cookie packs into her backpack, Amy started looking around for the next attraction to go into. She didn't really have to look that far though, as she quickly came across an arcade, so expected to run into Chiaki and Sam in there.

There was a pretty large monitor set up at one end of the classroom which had a Guitar Hero type game on it. Around the rest of the room, there were smaller spaces for playing games (for example, tables which had smaller consoles on them, or some of those more old fashioned arcade type games that you need to put money into.

Currently, the Stepbrothers and Rock were watching Spud playing the game on the big monitor, while the two people in charge of the stall themselves were engrossed in some video games - Sam with a retro game, and Chiaki was battling Hajime on a handheld game at one of the tables. Amy decided to have a go on the big driving game by the door. It wasn't Crazy Taxi (instead the words Outlaw Run were printed on the side), but it sure as hell reminded her of that. The game involved driving down a bunch of roads and avoiding obstacles (which even included random holes in the road), and picking up random passengers stood in the middle of the road. For now, the music on it wasn't working, but Amy had to admit, the rock song from the other game in the room really set the mood for her.

"Hey, do I know you from somewhere?" Amy was pulled out of the game world she'd put herself in by Chiaki's voice, which she hadn't been expecting. "Uhh..." "Because you look kind of like that Amy girl. I might be wrong, but you--"

"Yes," Amy found herself saying. "That's me." She only chose to tell Chiaki because a) she felt she wouldn't go telling everybody who she really was, and b) someone might as well know, if they're all going to be this stupid! "I didn't expect to see you in an arcade. Are you a fan of gaming too?"

"Well, not really these kinds. I'm more of an indie game kind of girl. You know the ones, right?"

"I think so. Isn't there one about a high school girl who needs to kill all her love rivals to be with her one true love?"

"That's one I'm watching the development of. It's a bit intense, but looks like it'll be fun when it's completed. Uh, Chiaki?"

She'd already dozed off on the spot. _So that hasn't changed either_. The distraction caused by the gamer's sudden nap meant that Amy lost control of the game and got a game over.

"Well, that was fast." She decided to go to a slot machine now, more than a little surprised about why there was an _actual gambling game_ in a high school. The theme also came as a bit of a shock - they were based on the bear-like things that were used in the shooting gallery, but in five different colours. Deciding to ignore the reasons, she tried her luck on it, all the while listening in to the conversation between the four boys on the guitar game.

"Woah, Rock, that's better than my high score at home!"

"It's almost like Finland all over again! Except this time there's actually a guitar."

"Huh? Oh yeah, you go Rock!" By that point, whatever song he'd been playing had finished, and it had a perfect score on it. "Lorenzo, you wanna go next?"

"Do I!" He snatched the guitar enthusiastically out of Rock's hand as he tried looking for a good song. "Anyway, you two gonna check out the clubhouse after?"

"Why? What've they got down there?"

"It's a haunted house! The people who've been there already have said it was super creepy!"

"And you're going with Spud?"

"Yeah, I wanna see how long it takes the guy to react to it!"

 _The clubhouse, you say?_ Amy took one last turn on the slot machine before collecting her rucksack and heading towards the aforementioned room.

 

* * *

 

True to their word, in one of the empty clubhouse rooms was a haunted house. The room was bare and large enough to facilitate something like it. Next to the door, a man who Amy didn't recognise was manning a booth outside for admittance. He wore a dark green school uniform, had long hair with a hat over it, and a mask covered the bottom of his face. He definitely matched the atmosphere of it, that was for sure.

"Greetings, welcome to the haunted house. How may I help you?"

"Um, I'd like to go in?"

"Very well. We do groups of five, so I'm afraid you'll have to wait until more people arrive." Amy paid for her go, and then spotted a sheet of the people who had constructed the room.

Duncan  
Shawn - SHSL Zombie Nut  
Gwen - SHSL Artist  
LeShawna  
Korekiyo Shinguji - SHSL Anthropologist

"So that's who he is, then." 

Behind her, she could hear a pair of people approaching, who turned out to be Katie and Sadie. "Ooh, it looks so realistic! What do you think, Sadie?"

"We should give it a try, Katie!"

"Great," Amy moaned to herself. "Well, it's not like any other weirdos are gonna be joining our--"

"Are you finished over here?"

Wow, was she wrong.

"You're holding up the line." Stood directly behind her and the BFFFLs were the Goths from the Race. And holy crap, were they scary in real life!

"S-sorry," Amy quickly shuffled away as Ennui paid for both himself and Crimson. Clearly, their rabbit could get in with them for free. Once the whole group was prepared, Brick shuffled out of the other classroom door, with Makoto and Kyoko close behind. Apparently, and for some odd reason, he was the new headmaster of the academy, and Kyoko was a teacher.

_Well, he was a nice guy so...better him than Chris._

Once they'd moved away from the entrance (one faster than the others), the student who was apparently Korekiyo handed Katie a torch and motioned for the group to enter. The sliding door opened, and the group of five walked though the curtain into almost total darkness.

As Katie flicked the torch on, it turned out it wasn’t even that bright in the first place, in order to further set the atmosphere. From what they could see, the room looked like something from the Victorian era, from the furniture to the walls. On some shelves scattered around, there were some old looking Japanese-style dolls, and Amy could have sworn one of them blinked. A tall mirror was sat in the far-left corner, and in the very back, there was a window with tattered grey curtains on either side. In said window, it was raining.

“Hey Sadie, it was sunny when we came in here, right?”

“Of course it was,” Amy said. “This is just a prop. GYAH!” Three of the five members of the group looked over at the window, where a figure that looked like a zombie was lingering outside the window. The three girls exchanged scared looks, before glancing over to the Goths…who were stood in front of the mirror. Sadie said that it was one of those mirrors that changes its display in an attempt to scare people.

“I…think those two will probably be alright without us.”

“Y-yeah, let’s just go.” Katie led the way, torch still turned on, with Sadie and Amy following behind.

The next room they found themselves in wasn’t really a room as much as it was a dark corridor, with even more of those windows. All the way down, towards the end of the corridor, there were lights almost as dim as the torch, constantly flickering on and off. A couple of scratches lined the walls whenever there weren’t any “windows”, and there was a small chill around them, a lot bigger one than in the last room.

Still, the windows were trying to create the illusion that there was some kind of storm outside. Other than the atmosphere itself, there wasn’t anything to be that nervous about. And clearly, the two girls shared the same thoughts.

“Hey Sadie, I don’t think this is that bad. Maybe the scariest part happens after we finish this section.”

“Yeah,” Sadie replied, as it seemed as though Amy was just excluded from all this now. Sadie turned around to face them, when he face went pale (or the other two thought it did, due to the dark). What they couldn’t tell was that a “dead body” was hung from the ceiling.

“KYYAAAAAAA!” Sadie spun back around and sprinted down the rest of the hallway, causing the other two to look behind them and check. By this point, it had been lifted back into the roof.

“…maybe it was one of the Goths?”

…

Almost as soon as Amy and Katie joined Sadie in the end room, they already realised how much more eerie it was made to look. There was zero light in there, not even a fake window, except for the flashlight. Scanning the flashlight round the room, they saw that it was completely empty.

Katie was about to go over to Sadie to ask if she was okay, when they heard the sound of breaking glass, causing all of them to flinch.

Then the flashlight flickered off.

Sadie let out a light scream, while Amy and Katie only just managed to stop themselves from doing the same.

“Uwaah! I don’t like this!”

“Sadie, you’re hugging _my_ arm, not Katie’s.”

“Oh, my bad.”

“Come on, why isn’t it working?” Amy suddenly felt a drop of something on her shoulder, which only then began to freak her out. _It isn’t blood, it’s fake. It’s just water_. To check her point, she hesitantly put a hand to her shoulder and sniffed the liquid on her hand. Odourless. She was right. “Uh, Katie? This might not be the right time, but did you fart?”

“What? No! Maybe it was the other girl?”

“Hell no!” Amy sniffed the air, when she too realised it suddenly stank like hell. A light on the floor then distracted her…even though it was only the flashlight working again.

“Ah, finally.” Katie did one more search of the room, when her hand knocked against something. Scanning them up and down, she learned it was another person. They wore torn clothing with grease stains everywhere and was obviously the source of the stink. Fake blood leaked from certain parts of their body, and the most realistic looking injuries were in each tear in their clothing. Amy could tell in an instant that this was Shawn, what with the whole zombie theme. Even so…

…it was scary as hell.

“KYYAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!”

 

* * *

 

Shawn explained the different mechanisms to the three of them: as she guessed, the windows were just TV screens, and the flashlight (like some other ones that were on standby) were programmed to turn themselves off as the group entered the third room. He even admitted that the wounds on his arms were made by Gwen using a Facebook demo. The body Sadie saw turned out to be the old Chris dummy from TDA. Even though Amy dealt with the fear better than the other two girls, she still had to go to the bathroom after leaving in case she threw up.

Having refilled her stomach with one of DJ's sandwiches sometime later, she thought it would be best if she only did one more thing for today, then went back to Tomoko a little earlier. And she had a feeling that she should be going to the music room, since she'd been wanting to watch some of the karaoke performances that people were doing.

However, she didn't expect it to be as crowded as it was. Well, Sayaka was one of the people in charge, so that would probably be why. But as well as her, there was Beardo and Ella, Pahkitew Island's resident musicians. She'd heard about how annoyed some people got with her singing, and was happy that she didn't have to deal with it for long.

Somewhere in the room, she saw the Fashion Bloggers, possibly filming something for their blog...even though karaoke had nothing to do with fashion. Maybe Junko was in the room?

Regardless, she went to have a look at all the songs available. There were some English and some Japanese ones. There were even songs from musicals on there. As soon as she saw the first ones, she flicked through the book until she found the songs from Heathers.

"Hey, are you thinking of singing something?" Jen appeared behind her.

"Hmm? Oh, uh, yeah." Jen looked at where Amy's finger was.

" _Candy Store_ from Heathers? You like that musical too, huh?"

"Yeah. Apparently they're doing a production of it later on."

"Really? Then I'll be checking that out too! Oh, and we need one more person." Some girl with a long black ponytail, wearing a striped dress shirt and black leggings appeared behind them. "I'll join in with you."

"That's settled," the three girls walked up to Sayaka, as Jen handed Tom her phone. "I will be Chandler, Jen will be Duke, and you - sorry, I don't know your name..."

"It's Miku."

"...can be MacNamara."

The girls nodded their agreement, as the third girl put on a pair of geek glasses in order to read the lyrics on screen. In the crowd, Tom had started filming the three of them, [and then the lyrics appeared.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQOoTX1Nxx8)

_Are we gonna have a problem?_  
_You got a bone to pick?_  
_You've come so far - why now are you pulling on my dick?_  
_I'd normally slap your face off_  
_And everyone here could watch_  
_But I'm feeling nice, here's some advice_  
_Listen up, biyatch!_

\- - - **MEANWHILE** \- - -

“Um, excuse me? Are you going to be in here for much longer?”

This was the fourth time Korekiyo had been inside the haunted house finding the gothic duo admiring the décor in the different rooms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOTE: the games in the arcade are based off the ones from DRV3, and the talents for Duncan and LeShawna are left blank because I couldn't think of anything realistic  
> Next time: one huge Heathers reference  
> Because I have a school break now, I should be able to get more written so I don't have another lag in updating.


	31. Beautiful

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Heathers production - rushed and lackluster so to avoid tons of spoilers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, this one is quite rushed since I didn't want to spoil the whole thing for people who'd never seen it all. Also, the idea of two chapters this week failed big time.  
> Contains the same themes that appear in Heathers, only more diluted.

Running back towards the ramen stall, Amy's throat started feeling parched, what with the singing she'd just done. So she decided to wait for a short moment and get a cold drink.

"Had a fun day then?"

Amy turned and saw Shinjiro stood, also waiting for a drink. And if she was being honest, she didn't know how to react. One one hand, he'd touched her breast on day 1, but on the other hand, it was purely accidental.

"Uh, yeah, really fun. _Big fun_."

"I'm assuming you're going to watch the production in a bit, then? I only know the song because of all the rehearsals."

_Ooh, he actually got the reference! A bit of a shock, but still..._

"So, did you say a cherry or a coke slushie?"

Amy's eyes widened for a split second, before returning to her non-bitch demeanour. "I didn't," she continued the reference. "Cherry."

A few seconds afterwards, two slushies were ready, and Bridgette pushed them forward. Shinjiro picked up both of them, pushing the cherry one to Amy. “So, how come you’re going?”

“It’s my favourite musical, although I’m more surprised as to why it looks like you’re going?”

“Remember Ian? He’s got a role in it, and I wanna see how it goes.”

“Yeah, I remember.”

“So, wanna go now before it gets a bit too crowded?”

“Actually, I’m still waiting for one more person.”

…

"Remind me again why we're here?"

"Heathers is my favourite musical ever, so I wanna see how they pull this off."

Like with last year's beach party, B had constructed the stage and was in charge of the lighting and stuff. Tomoko didn't know everyone who was in the cast, but Ian was definitely involved. Which was probably one of two reasons why Shinjiro was also watching. The three of them were sat, drinks in hand, in probably the best seats they could find. In the seats behind them were the Fashion Bloggers and Kitty, who were all in deep conversation. “So then, what to expect in this? Ian’s kept it all in the dark.”

Amy’s eyes lit up slightly as she started rambling on about the production, including as few spoilers as humanly possible. However, before she could actually finish it, the lights went down around the spectators, and she immediately shut up.

"Quick warning," Amy whispered to Tomoko as all the lights went out, "I might start singing along with a few of the songs."

"Duly noted."

"No, it's just because some of the songs are...stuff that aren't suitable for high school age people."

"Please, some of the people here must be college age by now."

 

* * *

 

From the first song, Tomoko could tell how good the casting was.

It was fair to say that nobody had pegged Gwen as the type of person to be in a musical production, even though she was a decent enough singer. Despite that, it looked like the role was almost tailor-made for her. Not to mention she matched the whole colour scheme for Veronica. The fact that she carried a journal with her made this even clearer.

Having Dakota, Heather and Lindsay as the three Heathers made perfect sense. Lindsay was the very definition of MacNamara (popular, kind of ditzy, but still the nicest of the three), Dakota was an actress so could easily blend into any kind of role similar to Chandler, and with Heather playing Heather Duke...for anyone who's seen the film or musical, that should be obvious.

"I think whoever was casting took a few too many leaves out of the official musical's book."

Ram and Kurt were respectively played by Topher and Lightning, and Amy had to wonder how Lightning was able to be convinced. He wasn’t that bad – he easily fit into the role – but on a couple of lines, she noticed he was about to start laughing. Topher was naturally a born performer, so even if he wasn’t a football player in real life, he could easily adapt, kind of like Dakota. And on that note, Amy looked genuinely surprised when she learned Sammy had the role of Martha. Sure, she had an okay voice, and Martha only soloed in one song, but still...

"Out of curiosity, how has Sammy been since I left?"

"..." Tomoko turned her head towards her, eyes wide. "...you just called her _Sammy_?"

"Well, yeah. That's her name after all."

"...she's been doing okay, for your information."

"Great." Both of them went quiet and kept on watching, with Amy carefully analysing each casting choice.

"Wait, what the heck?"

"Something wrong?"

"By process of elimination, Ian's been cast as JD? Wasn't he almost as shy as most of the people here?"

"I had my doubts too, but hey, he's a songwriter. He might have an okay voice?"

"Okay? _Okay_? JD isn't supposed to be okay, he needs the most powerful voice out of any of them!"

"..."

"Maybe with the exception of Ms Fleming."

...

Throughout most of the first half of the production, things went as well as Tomoko would expect them too. Everyone was doing great performances in their roles, and it wasn't as R-rated as she thought.

Then they got to that scene.

Oh, you know the one.

" _Heeeeeeyy_ , 'Ronica...~"

Amy tried to hide her laugh behind her arm as another track started playing. Tomoko gave her a confused glance for a little while...then Topher started singing.

 _You make my balls so blue (you hurt them badly)_  
_You make my balls so blue (they're hanging sadly)_

"...umm..."

"I warned you," Amy muttered, right before she started humming along with the song. Tomoko tried as best as possible to shuffle away, failing when she bumped into the person beside her. Still, hearing this song made Tomoko question Lightning’s involvement even further. Becoming slightly disturbed by the music, she waited until Amy was watching the show without any distractions, before going onto her phone.

“Tomoko, this is the part where I judge whether Ian was the right choice for this role.”

Before she knew it, the R-rated stuff was over, causing Tomoko to quickly stash her phone away. The next song, which was the last one in Act 1, was called Our Love Is God. It’s intent is to show JD’s true colours in the lead up to the second part of the musical, or so Amy had said.

As it started, the idea behind it seemed relatively mundane: Veronica and JD plotting revenge on the two jocks, after spreading a rumour that Veronica had sex with them (which Tomoko had missed). Fair enough. But a bad feeling sunk into Tomoko’s stomach when she saw the gun. “Is that real?” Gwen/Veronica asked.

“Yeah, but we're filling it with "Ich Luge" bullets.”

“Ich Luge...? What?” _I’m lying_ , Tomoko’s polyglot part of her brain said.

“My grandad scored them in World War II. They contain a powerful tranquilizer. The Nazis used them to fake their own suicides when the Russians invaded Berlin. We will use them to knock out Ram and Kurt long enough to make it look like a suicide pact. Complete with a forged suicide note.”

“Hey Amy,” Tomoko muttered as the dialogue continued, “I have a feeling that’s not really what’s going to happen…?”

“Well, you wouldn’t be wrong.”

Sure enough, some time later, Topher and Lightning’s characters get shot by JD, and the tone of Ian’s singing gets far larger. Amy was surprised by this, not knowing any tone of his voice higher than “extreme shyness”. For once Amy didn’t say anything about the production, instead focusing on Ian’s singing. By the time it was done, Amy had only one word.

“Wow.”

 

* * *

 

One interval later, Amy the motormouth was back again, every so often shoving _kara-age_ into her mouth and taking a sip out of her second cherry slushie. Shinjiro just messed with his fingers, and Tomoko was reaching the point of boredom from having to listen to the same comments over and over again. So much so that Tomoko had to slap her as the lights went down.

And as soon as she saw the scene on stage, it was her turn to start talking.

“Are Geoff and Brody supposed to be Topher and Lightning’s dads?”

“Yeah.”

“From what I heard,” Shinjiro whispered, “they tried to get DJ as Kurt’s dad, then Topher played his own dad. They went for Geoff and Brody after DJ found out his momma was going to watch the production.”

“So he didn’t want to portray the somewhat homophobic parent in front of her? Can’t say I blame him.”

“What do you mean, _somewhat homophobic_?”

“Just listen to the song.”

Sure enough, the song was about Ram’s dad accepting Ram and Kurt’s “homosexual suicide pact”, which Kurt’s dad currently doesn’t. The audience (and clergy) also learn that…something, happened between the two of them on a fishing trip. And honestly, this was another instance where Tomoko bought the casting choice.

“Jeez, Topher should just call himself SHSL Director.”

Most of the rest of the production was predictable in Tomoko’s opinion (and spoiled by Tess last year). Although she did commend the vocal performances on the lead-up, Gwen especially. And while Tomoko did want to try and focus on the show, she was mostly distracted by Amy’s comments every so often. Honestly, after the beginning of Act 2, the only time she stopped was after Veronica’s faked suicide attempt. Much to her surprise as well, Shinjiro was engrossed in this ending too.

And once she did the same, she began to realise how the Internet loved it.

…

By the time the final song was done, Amy was actually in tears over it, meaning the group of three couldn’t leave until she’d stopped, lest they draw attention to themselves. “I…assume you liked it?”

“That was AMAZING! When the festival’s over, tell Gwen that her performance was brilliant!”

“Uh, right.”

Ian then came over to the trio, no longer in costume. “Hey Shinjiro, Tomoko…Amy?”

“How’d you figure it out?”

“Seriously? You don’t even look that different. Don’t tell me you thought _nobody_ would be able to notice?”

Amy went a little red and glanced down at the floor. “I…guess I never thought about that.”

“You don’t say? Kyoko…Sammy…did you forget Scarlett in Pahkitew Island?”

All eyes were on Amy as she still didn’t say anything.

 _Seriously?_ How _couldn’t she think of that?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heathers songs mentioned - Beautiful, Big Fun, Blue, Our Love is God, Dead Gay Son  
> Also, yes, I noticed how stupid it is to have Amy pose as someone completely different, so more and more people will probably figure out who it is.  
> Next time: Thursday's events


	32. Foreshadowing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As in, foreshadowing plot points from V3 because I hit a writers block.  
> More of the 79th Class spend time at the school festival, and we learn a relationship between a student and one of the TDAc cast members.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two week absence due to exams...another terrible chapter...you get the drill, just read.  
> Also, hope people noticed the references to V3.

“You want seven bowls of noodles? But there’s only four of you at the stall over there.”

“One for Noah, one for Katie, one for Sadie, and the rest are for me!”

Sighing, Tomoko put the seven bowls of ramen onto the counter and pushed them over to Owen. He immediately dumped two of them down his mouth before giving three others to his friends at the ice cream stall, where Kaito was right now.

“He better be bringing ice cream for all of us too.”

“He is, before the Victory Road gets too crowded. And because it’s so warm today.”

Kaito soon returned holding five tubs of ice cream. He’d just got random flavours for the group to fight over (except for a grape one with a checkerboard biscuit stuck in it, which was exclusively for Kokichi, as per his request). Other than that, they’d had watermelon, passion fruit, coffee and matcha.

As Tomoko went for the passion fruit one and took a bite out of it, she realised how great it was. “Did Katie and Sadie make this?”

“What made you think that?”

“In their profiles when they signed up for Total Drama, it said they ran an ice cream stall in their hometown.”

While they discussed this, Amy had gone to the takoyaki stand opposite them, where only three people were working, compared to the usual four – Devin, Mike and the Imposter. Although she didn’t know the name of the fourth person, she’d seen him meeting up with Kaito every evening.

“Momota-kun, where’s the other person over there?”

“You mean Shuichi? We all set him up on a date with one of our classmates for today!”

“Hey Momota-chan, I see them!” In the direction Kokichi was pointing were two people walking together. One was a shy looking boy wearing a cap, whose outfit was a typical Japanese school uniform. The other was a blonde-haired girl whose appearance seemed to constitute a musical theme. Both teens were carrying crepes from the stall further down. “Hey! Saihara-chan~! Akamatsu-chan~!”

“Huh? Akamatsu?” On hearing her name, the blonde girl turned towards the stall, and her face lit up in recognition.

"Tomoko-chan, is that you?" On closer inspection, the girl was all too familiar to Tomoko.

"Kaede-chan?!" Tomoko ran out in front to greet her, causing all the boys to look at them in confusion. "I didn't know you got into Hope's Peak!"

"Well, same to you!"

"Um, Fukuhara-chan? How exactly do you know Akamatsu-chan?"

"We're cousins." Now that she'd said it, the boys did home in on the similarities between them - other than the hair and the eyes, they did look sort of like they were related. “And how I’m here, that’s actually a long story.” **(A/N: for anyone who remembers from the first fic, Tomoko’s mom’s name was Emiko Akamatsu before she married, which I decided on BEFORE the names for V3 were revealed. So I decided to make them cousins.)**

"So, Shuichi," Kaito nudged the other boy on the shoulder. "How's that date with Akamatsu going?"

"I don’t want it to be a date. Can’t we just spend some time together as friends?”

“Bro…you crossed that border after Valentines Day.”

“After all, Amami-kun was with us for a little."

“Still, that doesn’t mean it can’t be a date! Don’t you like Akamatsu?”

“Yes! I mean, n-not in that way, I mean I _like_ her but--”

“Oh Saihara-chan, you shy dork!”

In the meantime, Kaede was talking with Tomoko and Amy. “So is she one of you friends then?”

The other two girls shared a pretty awkward look, while Tomoko tried to think of how to introduce Amy. She knew _Mandy_ wouldn’t work on many more people, and they definitely weren’t friends yet! So…

“Not…really. We just ended up on the same stall purely by coincidence.” Which was half true.

“Oh. So, who are you friends with here?”

“You know Ibuki Mioda, right? The SHSL Musician? And another person who started this year called Kitty.”

“Oh, wow! I’ll have to meet up with Mioda-san at some point. And Maizono-san for that matter. Some people I spoke too wanted the three of us to performed something together.”

“Well, you and Maizono-san, sure. But Ibuki…”

“Anyway, it’s been quick but we need to go up to the arcade now. Shirogane-san told me about that Outlaw Run game, and I want Saihara-kun to give it a try too!”

Kaito leaned over to the girls. “So, we’re still gonna meet up later outside the casino?”

“There’s even a casino here?!”

“Yep. Celeste is trying to teach people some gambling basics, and I think that Scott guy might be up there too.”

Amy nearly asked why Scott was there, but opted not to in the end, allowing Kaito and Shuichi to return to their conversation.

“Which one was Scott?”

“The ginger haired dirt farmer – the antagonist of season four.”

“Ah, okay. And Momota-kun, please don’t waste too much in the casino.”

“Ooh, Momota-chan’s gambling?” Kokichi appeared back at the counter. “In that case, count me in!”

“Anyway…Hoshi should be up there too.”

“We’ll see you two later then! And it was nice seeing you again, Tomoko-chan!”

“You too, Kaede-chan,” she smiled and waved as she and Shuichi walked away together.

“We’re headed out too,” Kaito said, picking up his rucksack and pulling a wallet out of it.

“How much do you even have?” Amy wondered.

“$50. And I’m gonna add even more to that number! Later!”

Jumping over the counter, Kokichi leaned towards the other three. “And people call _me_ a liar. He’ll be 100 in debt by the time we get back, and he knows it.” Grinning, he followed after Kaito a little too eagerly.

As soon as Kaito and Kokichi walked off, Kiyotaka suddenly realised what has happened. “Hey! Momota-kun, Ouma-kun! Get back here!”

Unfortunately, both boys were long gone by the time he realised. “Fantastic. Now I have to put in three times the amount of work!”

“No need to overwork yourself. I’ll put in extra work too.” Tomoko said.

“I can’t believe I managed to let them abandon their positions!”

“Ishimaru-kun, it isn’t the end of the world, okay? This is still a school festival, a chance for us to have a little fun! It’s not all about working.”

Kiyotaka eventually gave in. “You have a point. Why don’t we take a break when the other boys get back?”

Amy wasn’t expecting him to react like that, exactly. “Wow, I never would have expected that from him last year.”

“Did you say something?”

“N-nothing!”

 

* * *

 

Being lunchtime, the Victory Road, as Kiyotaka had previously mentioned, was now flooded with people. Some more of Kaito and Kokichi’s classmates were waiting outside one of the stalls – specifically, a trio of girls buying crepes, like Kaede had done earlier.

“Tenko doesn’t know what she wants!” Having scanned the menu all number of times, the aikido practitioner was still unable to make up her mind. Her two friends, Himiko and Angie, appeared to be having similar problems. Or rather, Himiko was also having problems, while Angie appeared to be praying to something. The delay in ordering caused the person in the line behind her (Mukuro) to push forward.

“I’ll have--”

“I’ve already prepared one for you, sis.” Junko pushed forward a simple crepe, dusted with sugar. No fillings, no flavours…

“It reminds me of you.”

“…”

“Come on, be a _little_ grateful! It’s even on me!”

As Mukuro sighed and walked away, staring down at her bland crepe, the three girls still hadn’t decided. Jasmine and Cody, both of whom worked on the stall, noticed the three girls were still there.

“If you’re going to be much longer, could you move to the side?”

“You know,” Cody said, “the line down there is a little shorter.” He pointed towards the sweet stall, which only had two people there.

“Hmmm, normally Tenko doesn’t listen to degenerate males…”

“Nyeh…it’s too far to go…”

“Atua says we should listen. He says we’ll find something to eat there.”

“…alright then.” Tenko led the trio towards that stall where, much to her delight, there were two girls and one boy working (who was one of her classmates). Specifically, Sonia, Beth and Ryoma.

The three of them were operating a sweet stall, and that much was obvious from what was behind the three students – a cotton candy machine in the back, tubs of different candies, and a load of other things in the front (mostly in boxes).

“Hello there, how can I help you?” Sonia was the one who addressed them.

Angie stared at all the different sweets behind the three of them, while Himiko was more interested in what was at the front. “What’s in those boxes?”

“These are chocolates from my home country, Novoselic.”

“Oh, that’s right! You’re the SHSL Princess, I remember you!”

“Would you like to try one of them?” As Tenko and Angie nodded enthusiastically, Sonia opened one of the boxes and offered them to each of the girls. All three of them took one, and their faces lit up in delight over them.

“These are so delicious!”

“On Angie’s island, we could order these on DeepSea. They’re just as good as Angie remembers!” Tenko fished around in the bag she had on her to find some money, so the three girls ended up with five boxes of the Novoselic chocolates.

“Thank you, I hope to see you again soon!”

“While we eat these, could one of you help me with my script for later?”

“Nyeh, sure thing Tenko.”

Having done nothing, Ryoma sighed as he watched them leave. “When’s Oowada going to get back? I arranged to meet some other classmates soon.”

“You called?” Mondo appeared in front of them, holding a cotton candy – the same one he’d left with ten minutes ago. “Oh, what did you want?”

“Great, I can go on break now.”

“Wait, where are you going?” Beth asked.

“To the casino,” Ryoma said only that before leaving.

 

* * *

 

Much later on in the day, both Tenko and Tsumugi were waiting behind the stage, taking one last read over their scripts. On the table in front of them were some of the chocolates Tenko had bought earlier.

“You know, the more Tenko thinks about it, the more disturbing the content of this script sounds.”

“Then why did you decide to accept the role?”

“So she can unleash her neo-aikido on some degenerates! She’s _seen_ Total Drama! What about you, Shirogane-san?”

“Hello?” Tsumugi waved her script in front of Tenko. “My character is a _cosplayer_! This was a role made for me!”

“Chabashira, Shirogane.” Ryoma appeared in the backstage area. “Just thought I’d drop by and wish you good luck for tonight.”

“Thank you, Hoshi-san!”

“Ooh, how did the casino thing go?”

“…”

***

_Arriving outside the casino, Ryoma heard laughter coming from the door. On the inside of the room was Scott, laughing at one of the people gambling._

_“Let me guess,” Ryoma said. “Kaito’s over there.”_

_“Huh? Oh, the purple haired space guy? Yeah, I have a feeling he’s gonna lose everything.”_

_“As I expected.” Moving towards his classmates, he saw four people at one of the tables: Makoto, Nagito and Hagakure, all duelling Celes in some kind of game._ Two lucky students, a fortune teller and a gambler…this looks interesting.

_But as much as he wanted to watch it deep down, he’d agreed to meet up with some of his classmates: Kaito, Shuichi and Miu. And Kokichi, who he had no idea was going to tag along. They were at the slot machines in the very back, but even if he didn’t know that, he’d be able to find them by Miu’s laughter and Kaito’s anguish._

_“Hoshi-chan! Please save us from Momota-chan’s terrible gambling skills!”_

_“This is only my second try! Jeez, you’ve yet to see the gambling skills of Kaito Momota, Luminary of the Stars!”_

_“Momota-kun,” Shuichi said, “stop lying to yourself.”_

_“As if that flower-garden brained idiot can make even a dollar!”_

_“Oh? Shinguji isn’t here?”_

_“Apparently those two goth people went back for another visit.”_

_“Right, I remember.” Ryoma pushed past every member of the group. “Let me give this a try--”_

_“No, wait! One more shot!” Kaito pulled out a little more change before putting it in the machine. “This time, I guarantee it!”_

_…_

_“KYAKYAKYA! Fuckin’ knew it!”_

_“I_ did _try to warn you.”_

_Sighing, Ryoma pushed a distraught Kaito aside, having waited 53 rounds before he could go for it. “Let me show you how it’s done.”_

_“No way!” Kaito yelled, turning a few heads from other tables. “That machine’s broken! As if you’re gonna get a--”_

_“Payline! Nice one, Hoshi-chan!”_

_“HOW?!”_

_With all the noise coming from the classmates, most people were starting to get irritated with them. While Kokichi admired Ryoma’s continued gambling prowess, and Miu laughed at Kaito, Shuichi tried talking to his best friend._

_“Momota-kun, you should take this as a lesson. No more gambling when we get home.”_

_“No, today was probably just a bad day for me. Believe me Shuichi, first time I gamble back in Japan--”_

_“I repeat, and people call me a liar.”_

***

“…”

“So it went as we all expected.”

“But why only show it as a flashback sequence?”

“Shirogane-san, are you alright?”

The lights visibly went down on the stage, Ryoma taking this as his cue to leave. “Break a leg, you two. And don’t be surprised if Momota isn’t out there.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The thing with Mukuro was inspired by a 4koma about Junko/Mukuro getting ice cream.  
> Next time: what exactly IS Shinjiro's production about? Hopefully better and faster this time.


	33. From Me To You Too

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amy meets Ibuki and Kitty, and learns that not everyone is disgusted by her presence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IMPORTANT NOTES  
> #1 - the entire fic has been edited so Tomoko's talent is now SHSL Intern again - the Polyglot title came out of nowhere, and based on the TD Online profiles, I felt it suited Ezekiel better  
> #2 - I'll admit, I'm bored of this fic. Not the whole series, but the fic. That's why the writing is likely to be much quicker and worse with each chapter. I just want to move onto the next instalment as soon as possible, which I have a running idea for this time.

Choosing to man the photography exhibition alongside Mahiru had been a great idea in the end. Kitty wasn’t the type who took photos artistically, but more as a reminder for her memories. It meant she was able to talk to a lot of people who visited, and not have to do an awful lot of work.

As usual, Hiyoko was looking at the same photos as always, that Mahiru had taken, and Kitty realised that every day she could notice something different about each one. Other than her, not many of the students came in – probably since they were all busy with their own stalls.

It was coming closer to lunchtime, and Kitty had arranged to meet Tomoko and Ibuki for lunch. She picked up her bag from under one of the tables, took one of the photos she’d taken, and ran outside.

After the entire week, Tomoko had finally convinced her friend to talk to her and Ibuki. Kitty didn’t think she’d be that bothered by her being there – at the very least, there were worse people for her to be forced to talk to…

Since Ibuki worked in a different area of the festival, they’d agreed to meet outside the ramen stall where Tomoko was working. And sure enough, she was talking with Kiyotaka and a blonde girl who looked…vaguely familiar. She just couldn’t place where from.

“Oh, Kitty’s here.” Tomoko left the stall and walked over to them.

“Hey Tomoko! You doing okay?”

“Yep. This is the… _friend_ , I was talking about.”

“I feel like I’ve seen her someplace before…”

“If you’ve seen Total Drama, you would have done. Believe it or not--”

“I’m Amy.”

“What? Really?!” Kitty stared her up and down a couple of times. “Are you sure you aren’t some kind of cosplayer?”

“That’s what I asked on Sunday.”

“Well…it’s nice to meet you in person, I guess?”

“Hey guys!” Appearing from seemingly nowhere, Ibuki threw her arms over her two bandmates. “Is this your friend, Tomoko-chan?”

“I guess you could say that. This is Amy, from last year.”

“Oh. But you said she’s really nice.” Amy’s expression went from normal to sad in a split second.

“Believe me, she is. Anyway, shall we grab food?”

…

With most of the lines too long, Tomoko and Amy just made some of the ramen at their own stall. Not at all surprisingly, there wasn’t a lot of talking…or eating for that matter. While Amy and Tomoko ate their food, Ibuki hummed to herself, while Kitty tapped a beat on the table.

“Are you two practicing for later this evening?”

“Yeah.” Both of them kept on going without looking up.

“Uh, what are you three doing this evening?”

“You know that musical showcase they’re doing?” Amy nodded. “We’re in it together.”

“What song are you doing? One of Ibuki’s?”

“Nah, I’m doing an original by myself at the end.”

“Have you heard of a song called Unhappy Refrain?”

“You’re playing that song?! I love that one!”

Kitty stopped drumming and looked up in surprise. “You do? I…didn’t expect that from you.”

“It’s fine. I don’t seem like that kind of person at first, do I?” “You really don’t. So what, are you into anime too?”

“Not really. There’s this US anime I found out about, but I don’t really watch traditional anime.”

“Well, great. What else should we know about the _real_ Amy?”

And with that, Amy and Kitty were having a proper conversation. After eating her ramen, Ibuki joined in with them. Tomoko just stayed on the outside listening in, feeling as though it was time for Amy to start making more friends. Kitty showed the girls a picture from the exhibition that she’d taken, which looked just as nice as some that Mahiru take, Ibuki and Amy sang the Unhappy Refrain song in order to practice, and all this led to Tomoko being the one to buy the desserts…since none of them wanted to end the conversation.

A week ago, Tomoko would have thought that Amy wanted to spend time with her would be the biggest surprise during the school festival...this lunch break took that spot.

 

* * *

 

With Kitty having returned to the photos and Tsumugi on her lunch break, Tomoko and Amy stayed with Ibuki while a large number of customers arrived at the clothing stall. The two girls realised just how great at sewing both girls were as they looked at what had been put out. The crowd of people in front of them included Dawn, Peko and Sanders, as well as Justin and Ruruka, who had dragged Seiko into looking at stuff. While preparing to leave, Tomoko overheard the end of Ibuki and Dawn’s conversation.

“So, Dawn…you just left Yasuhiro-chan to run the stall by himself?”

“I sensed that fewer people than usual would be visiting while I was away.”

“Ibuki can understand that perfectly. Ah, Ibuki almost forgot!” She reached under the table and handed Tomoko a package. “It’s your outfit for the performance!”

“Well, thanks! As long as it isn’t too revealing, I’m fine with it.” She put the package under her arm and reached for Amy’s wrist. “Anyway, we’ll leave you to all this. See you later!”

“Later!”

Amy turned to Tomoko. “Those two were actually nice to me. It’s almost hard to believe.”

“Guess you shouldn’t have been so eager to use a different name.”

“ _You_ were the one who used Mandy!”

“It was only for Ishimaru! You didn’t have to use that name for everyone else!”

“ _Anyway_ …only by talking to Ibuki and Kitty, I’m tempted to come back here.”

Tomoko stopped walking to look at Amy, smiling. “If you did, I wouldn’t stop you.”

…

Some hours later, Amy was tapping her foot impatiently outside the toilets. “Are we nearly done here? I need to grab a seat?”

“Ready,” Tomoko pushed the cubicle door open, and Amy finally got a look at what Ibuki had sewn for her. It was a sailor fuku style outfit that looked similar to Ibuki’s usual one, only with a slightly differing colour scheme. “So, thoughts?”

“Wow, that actually suits you!”

“Think so?”

“Yeah!” Amy picked up the bag of clothes left behind and threw it over her shoulder. “So, I’m gonna go find a seat before too many people show up.”

“Actually, if you wanted to, you could watch from backstage. If Harold can convince LeShawna to do that, then there shouldn’t be a problem with you being there.”

“You’re sure? I dunno, it feels weird. I mean, we aren’t exactly… _friends_ …”

“Well, you’ve been with me all week, right?” Amy silently thought about this as Tomoko grabbed a guitar from backstage and met with her brother in the wings. “Shinjiro, you all ready for…what’re you holding?”

“Oh, Carrie was doing art requests, so I asked her to draw something anime related with me in it.”

“Why am I not surprised.”

“And what about you? What’s with the outfit?”

“Ibuki made it for our performance, since we go on before you. She put herself between the Light Music Club and Punk Division’s performance so I had time to get changed again.”

“Right. Ah, I meant to ask, what did you think of that production yesterday?”

 

* * *

 

_"Come on, my classmates are in there!"_

_"Sorry, but you still need to pay for entry." As Kaito slumped in despair outside the entrance, Tomoko and Ian walked past him._

_"I still can't believe we're here," Ian muttered. At the request of Tomoko, they both went to watch the production Shinjiro had decided to put together. "I took a look at the show it was based on, and I think I'll regret it for my entire life."_

_"Quit whining over it. You promised him."_

_"Also, why is Amy not far in front of us?"_

_"Why do you think?" Both of them glanced at Shinjiro who was lurking backstage. "I can feel it."_

_This time, the stage area was almost circular for the most part, with the one used yesterday a little behind. If you looked closely, you could see a set of steps leading up to it. Also, with the seats, there was a walkway leading to the front stage area for people to move down._

_Tomoko gave Amy a booklet consisting of a fair number of pages. "It's an English translation for it, since it's all in Japanese this time."_

_Hey, nobody told me that!" Ian looked round her shoulder in surprise. Groaning a little, Tomoko pointed towards the sign by the front that had a Japanese flag slap bang in the middle, with the words JAPANESE ONLY taking up the rest of the space on it._

_Then you can sit here," she said to Amy, "and the two of you can share a translation. Happy?"_

_As Amy settled down in her new seat, the lights went off and somehow, the atmosphere got darker (even though it was still daylight). A siren noise, accompanied by red lights going down the walkway, and a soundtrack nobody had heard before, started playing. Amy used that as her cue to start reading._

"Emergency! Burning heart, running cool. I am...Red."

_As his line ended, Shinjiro began running through the gap in the chairs towards the stage, where a set had now been put up. His outfit was sticking to a red theme - red jacket, black trousers etc._

_Amy quipped, "Is he supposed to be a Japanese male Heather Chandler?"_

_"Oh, no no no no no. Nothing like that at all," Ian filled in for her._

_"I've seen some of the source material too, sometimes I want to know where he gets these ideas from," a voice from behind added in._

_"Huh? Kizakura-san? How come you're watching this?"_

_"Shinjiro-kun's my student, isn't he? I thought I'd see whether it was just the alcohol making me see that stuff." All three teens shrugged and looked back at the action._

_…_

_So, from what they could understand, this production was about a tokusatsu otaku, a martial artist anime fan, and a cosplayer, who are summoned by a scientist/owner of a Super Sentai cafe to become a Power Rangers/Super Sentai team called Akibaranger._

_Yep, that sounded like Shinjiro's idea._

_All three of them zoned out around the halfway point, meaning they missed Tenko fighting a hoard of boys in those black/white bear masks, a significant amount of bad acting from Nekomaru, Junko acting far too sexy for this production, Mukuro surprisingly playing the scientist character well, and Tsumugi being Tsumugi (or so someone next to Tomoko had said)._

_Tomoko, Ian and Amy were not enjoying it in the slightest, and it eventually got to the point where Ian had asked for a swig of Kizakura’s whiskey. Or rather the entire flask._

 

* * *

 

“It was…different.” Amy glanced at Tomoko, eager to yell her opinion on it, but opted to stay silent.

“Shut up, we’re starting!” Topher shout-whispered from on the stage, the curtain still down. Shinjiro and Tomoko nodded, running back into the main backstage area, Amy close behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: the musical showcase  
> Also, I just didn't know how to write the production that was supposed to be the focus of this chapter, so I included an extract.


	34. Clair de Lune

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The musicians of Hope's Peak close the school festival, and Chris prepares a nice surprise for the kids.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, an early update! And 2,600 words?!  
> It's longer, but no guarantees that the quality is any better. Links to most of the songs are in the story.

Far more people were behind the stage than there were at previous events: the obvious, Sayaka, Kaede and Ella; the Light Music Club; Punk Division; the Drama Brothers; and even Courtney with her violin. Fair to say, it was an odd combination of music styles.

In the cases of Tomoko and Ibuki, they were both performing twice – both with the Light Music Club, then Tomoko with Punk Division and Ibuki performing a solo.

And to top off everything, Topher had beat Chris to the “hosting” role, resulting in Chris sitting in a front row seat between Chef and an empty seat. Said empty seat, however, was soon filled by the Usami mascot.

“Dave, you know you can take that off now. This is technically the last day.”

Immediately, the head flew off the rest of the costume, and an incredible stink filled the air around the two hosts.

“N-never mind! Either put it back on or go away!” Dave opted for the second option, finding a place to dump the mascot costume and clean himself up.

“What smells so bad?” Chris and Chef turned to see Byakuya stood by the empty seat.

“It’s Dave. The guy in the mascot costume.”

“I _know_ who Dave is,” Byakuya sat down. “So now that _his_ penalty from the Race is over, what about mine?”

“Whatever do you mean?”

“Delete that photo, before one of the students finds out you have it!”

“And by one of the students, you mean Toko?”

It was a good thing that nobody was listening in, otherwise the whole audience would have learned that Chris had a photo of Byakuya in a grass skirt on his phone – the result of the bet between Chris and Byakuya.

In the meantime, backstage, Sayaka was preparing to go on, waiting in the wings. Rather than the pink dress she was often seen in during her previous performances, she was in her usual school uniform type outfit. Behind her was Courtney, also in her usual outfit, holding her violin.

“Break a leg, Sayaka. You’re going to do great.”

“Same to you, Courtney. I saw you playing on Total Drama Island, and you’re really good.”

“Thank you. I haven’t heard any of your group’s songs before, but you must have got into Hope’s Peak Academy for a reason.”

“And now, our first performance for you tonight,” Topher continued on the stage, “is a young woman that most of you should be all too familiar with. Performing one of her idol group’s songs, it’s Hope’s Peak’s very own idol herself, Sayaka Maizono!”

…

Following on from the SHSL Idol is by no means an easy feat, especially when transitioning from J-pop to classical. Courtney’s violin piece was a four-minute-long one called [Czardas](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=No7NeEaVls4), and while it was by no means a bad performance, quite a lot of people were starting to fall asleep as a result of it. Chances were that most people in the audience were expecting a straight run of lively performances, like the rock bands and Sayaka.

From one look into the crowd, Topher had a feeling that the Tennis Rivals (sat in the very back) wouldn’t enjoy one performance – they were bored by the violin, and would no doubt go deaf from the upcoming rock. And many others were looking relatively bored with it, until she passed the minute mark and the whole song began to speed up to levels nobody expected Courtney to be capable of. The first time people saw her play was six years ago in Total Drama Island, and clearly she’d made a vast number of improvements in those years.

Surprisingly, even people like Izzy were started to become interested after the change in speed. The amount of times she had to move her fingers along the strings was even more tremendous.

When she finished, the people who’d been bored before were on their feet applauding the CIT.

 

* * *

 

The first rock band to go on were the Light Music Club, who it should be mentioned, were going through Punk Division syndrome – as in they had no official name yet.

In Amy’s opinion watching from the side, seeing all three girls in similar sailor fuku outfits was a little weird, yet cool at the same time. Ibuki was in front of the microphone with her guitar, which for some odd reason has a flamethrower…type, thing attached to it. Tomoko held a normal guitar, while Kitty was on the drums. Amy went from excited to terrified at the very sight of Ibuki behind the microphone…someone from the school had posted a video of her exam onto one of the blogs, and it was…worrying…

But it was a song she knew was a rock type song, so at the very least, maybe Ibuki would tone down the vocals?

And sure enough, she did. Much to her and everyone else’s surprise. [Unhappy Refrain](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fApfapRp-0Y) is a song that actually suited the toned down Ibuki…almost _too_ perfectly.

Once it was over, Amy was there to help with Tomoko’s quick costume change. While waiting for her to finish, Kitty decided to watch Ibuki’s grungy solo performance. However, nobody knew what song she was doing – it had to be one nobody had heard before.

Glancing out into the audience, both girls saw the unlucky suckers who’d never heard Ibuki’s true musical stylings before, end up with ears that looked like they were about to start spurting blood at any minute.

By the time Tomoko came back outside, carrying the same guitar she’d used before, she was in her usual outfit, only without the crop hoodie. Ibuki had also finished her set by this point, much to the relief of all those backstage.

The three other boys had appeared behind the girls, all wearing dark clothing (so for Ian, no changes to the usual). As Ibuki walked past them, grinning from ear to ear, Punk Division took her place on stage.

They could have picked an English song, or another Syuusuke Saito one like last year, but instead Shinjiro picked it. And I’ll give you one guess what kind of medium it comes from. That’s right, they were performing an anime opening. But in Shinjiro’s defense, it was a song that matched the style they were doing – [STRIKE BACK](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=watQgRTHDhs), by BACK-ON, one of the openings from Fairy Tail. There was a lot of English rapping in it, which Leon was surprisingly good at. Also, for the purpose of the song, Ian had one of the lead vocals too. It had been picked because of what the fans said about it – it sounded like the Japanese version of Linkin Park.

While the girls tried to see if the audience’s ears had stopped bleeding, they noticed that Tsumugi girl on her feet and dancing to the song in the back. Of course.

Although three rock songs in a row may not have been the best idea, the crowd were eating it up. And the rock musicians had to try not to cringe as when they came off the stage, Shinjiro said:

“I’m all fired up now!”

…

Amy sighed, waiting for the final two acts as the props from the last one was cleared off, the noise from the person in the row behind her starting to get on her last nerve. “When is Sugar going to shut up about Ella? She was on stage two acts ago!”

“I guess you wouldn’t understand since you were eliminated early. Ooh, we’re onto the next one.”

“And now, for our next musical presentation of the night. The shining star of the Japanese Hope’s Peak Academy, the SHSL Pianist, Kaede Akamatsu!”

A grand piano from the music room had been transported onto the stage from inside the school, and Kaede sat down in the stool.

Topher adjusted the microphone, so it could pick up all the sound from the piano before running off backstage.

While Courtney’s piece bored people at first and then drew people in, Kaede’s had people from the beginning. The piece she was playing was a Debussy classic called [Clair de Lune](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBKYw1P2LxU), and it was genuinely beautiful. A handful of people in the audience were on the verge of tears over Kaede’s playing, but her classmates were those in the most awe.

“I haven’t heard her play this song before. Shuichi?”

“On one of our first days, while I was still kind of nervous, she played this song to try and cheer me up. It…genuinely worked.”

“Wow! Atua is impressed with Kaede’s talents!” Angie exclaimed, oblivious to the dirty looks from both Tenko and Miu.

“How can you tolerate that bitch?” Miu whispered to the aikido master.

“Tenko’s only just learned how, but it gets difficult when she mentions that _god_ of hers.”

“Jeez, shut up!” Kokichi quietly yelled, causing Miu to cower in fear. “I can’t hear Akamatsu-chan’s playing!”

Another couple of minutes later, Kaede gracefully rose from her seat and bowed to the audience, and the young pianist received a standing ovation. Instead of taking a front seat like the other performers, she joined her classmates near the back, all of whom showered her with hugs and praise.

“Wow! And that was Kaede Akamatsu, everyone!” Topher came back on stage, trying to talk over the applause. “And now for our final act of the night!”

Kaede and her classmates all took their seats as the final act – the Drama Brothers – took over Topher’s position on stage in their old outfits. However, it was at this point that Amy noticed Chris and Chef had gone. She got out of her seat and walked over to Byakuya, trying to ignore the stink around him.

“You spend a lot of time with Chris and Chef. Where’d they get to?”

“No idea, they haven’t told me.” And that was it. Shrugging, Amy went back to the girls.

“Even Byakuya doesn’t know what’s going on, so…”

“Let’s just enjoy the rest of the performers and not worry about it.”

 

* * *

 

As it turned out, there was nothing to worry about.

What the two of them had planned was actually…nice. They’d returned in a van stock-piled with fireworks and a few packages. Inside them were – of all things – yukatas, most of them being single colours. Chris and Chef had decided to give the people left at the festival an authentic Japanese summer festival experience, mainly for the 79th Class visitors. Part of that meant providing yukatas for people to change into if they wanted to.

A large guy who looked like a farmer, called Daisaku (who looked weirder than the bull mask guy) took over one of the stalls and sold homemade buttermilk ice cream to everyone. Some other people were providing cold drinks, and all sorts of other things one might find at summer festivals in Japan. Obviously, Ruruka had set up her own confectionery stall, with Seiko and Sonosuke stood outside it, with Miaya and some other guy that looked even older than the Tennis Rivals (Kazuo Tengan, his name was) in conversation with the three friends.

Chef and a few of the larger students were on the beach setting up the fireworks for 10:30pm, so until then, most people were treating it similarly to the beach party they’d had last year.

A lot of the friendship groups from the previous Hope’s Peak classes were sticking together, one of these groups being comprised of some members of the 77th Class, including Ryota, specifically Hajime, Chiaki, Akane, Ibuki and Sonia. Nekomaru and Kazuichi were continually walking past them to get more fireworks to carry to the beach. All of them were in yukatas of a single colour, including Chisa.

“Didn’t you do something like this on the trip to Jabberwock Island?”

“Yeah. It was just a shame not everyone could take part in it.”

“Then it’s a good thing that Chris guy decided to do this. Are you sure he’s as sadistic as you told me?”

Hajime pondered this, as Nagito came back carrying some drinks. “That’s a good point. He really _does_ seem to be different to how he was in Total Drama. Well, after they shut down the cameras.”

“I wonder why that happened?”

Eva and Jo walked behind the group, neither of them following the trend of wearing yukatas. “Maybe when he realised his new personality would start costing him his Gemmie Awards,” Eva responded in a snarky tone, causing both girls to laugh. As they walked away from them, they also passed the Sisters and the Adversity Twins. An odd group to be seen together, but still.

“So you’ve done these sorts of things before then?”

“We have relatives in Japan, so when we visited them, there’d be a lot of these kinds of festivals.”

“There doesn’t appear to be one time of year when they _don’t_ have any.”

Near to both groups, Tomoko was sat on a bench, having changed into her own yukata – it was black with a floral pattern in different shades of purple. Her hair was also up in a ponytail, letting a little hair in front of her ears. By her feet were two bottles of ramune. Kaede was also in a pink pattered yukata, stood next to her while looking for someone.

“I agree with Hinata-kun. What _did_ cause Chris and Chef to do this?”

“I’m not sure,” Kaede said. “I’ve personally never seen it, but Momota-kun’s spoiled so much of the series to us that I might as well have done.”

“I didn’t know there even _were_ Japanese fans. Well, I actually found out earlier in the year that Komaeda-kun said he signed up for a Japanese adaptation of the show.”

“There was a Japanese adaptation?”

“Actually, it was never done since hardly anyone was crazy enough to sign up. Komaeda-kun would have relied on his luck to win.”

“Hey Tomoko, I have food!”

Turning round, Tomoko was surprised to see Amy in a white yukata with a red pattern along the bottom, her hair also in a ponytail, holding two of Daisaku’s buttermilk ice creams and a bag of Ruruka’s sweets on her arm.

“Uh, I thought they were only handing out plain yukatas?”

“Nope, they had some pattered ones as well, and I was one of the first ones there. That Hiyoko girl also let some girls borrow some of hers.”

“I guess being the SHSL Traditional Dancer, she’d have more than the average person.”

“Ah, I see my classmates. I’ll see you again before I leave tomorrow!” Kaede and Tomoko shared a quick hug before she ran over to Shuichi and company. Amy took her place – she handed Tomoko an ice cream, while she passed Amy a ramune. “Thanks…uh, how do you open these?”

“Right, let me do it.” She put the bottle in her lap, taking off the lid and pressing it hard into the top of the bottle. The marble sealing it fell into the bottle, the ramune fizzing, and the bottle was passed back to Amy. “It takes a lot of strength to do it.”

“Now let’s see if it tastes any good,” Amy glanced at her phone. “Not much longer to wait.”

“Yeah…” Tomoko looked down at her feet. “Hey Amy…if it’s okay with you, would you mind if we traded numbers?”

“Wait, huh?”

“I honestly never thought I’d ever become friends with someone like you, especially after seeing you on Pahkitew Island – the popular mean girl shtick and all that. But the Amy I’ve seen over the last week…the one you say is the real Amy, has been a fun, kind person who’s easy to get along with. With more than a few surprises to offer. And it’d be unfair if someone like that didn’t have even one real friend.”

“Seriously?”

“Well, I mean only if that’s okay wit-- gh!” The intern was cut off by Amy pulling her into a hug, almost knocking over their drinks.

“I thought you’d never ask.”

“Uh…” Amy sighed, pulling back. “Look, on the first day, being there with absolutely everyone, you looked like one of the most normal girls out of the whole bunch. I thought that if I wasn’t with the rest of those girls, I might have said something, even though it was still inevitable that you’d have said no.”

“So, you wanted to be friends with me…because I was normal?”

“Wow, I’m really not good at this, am I?”

“Let’s just leave it at that before I change my mind.” Tomoko was smiling as she said this, pulling out her phone. “Ah, 10:30! The fireworks should be starting any minute now!”

“Is that so?” Shinjiro, in normal clothing, appeared behind them. “Well, at least I’m watching it with two cool girls.” Tomoko noticed Amy go slightly pink at that.

“Wait, what about Ian and Leon?”

“I thought I’d leave those two alone if they wanted to follow Sayaka.”

“Guys, shut up!” Amy pointed towards the air, where a variety of colours began to illuminate the sky. Down the stretch where people had gathered, everyone was staring at the fireworks in awe. Although Tomoko and Amy shared a quick glance after a minute or so. It was yet another friendship Tomoko hadn’t been expecting during her time at the Neo Hope’s Peak Academy, but yet another time where she couldn’t complain about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> #1 - I've seen two performances of Czardas, one by a professional, and another by someone who was 11 at the time, so the song's stuck with me since then  
> #2 - I ran out of Ibuki songs, and I just liked the ones I picked for the two bands  
> #3 - "I'm all fired up now" is the English dub version of catchphrase for one of the protagonists of Fairy Tail  
> #4 - with all the other DRV3 references, I just had to include Clair de Lune  
> #5 - I read somewhere on the TD Wiki about the whole Japan thing - the Nagito part was obviously my idea  
> Next time: the aftermath of the school festival. Most likely back to the two week update gap.


	35. Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new wave of attacks has Future Foundation members concerned, and Tomoko tells the class the truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another short chapter. As I said a few weeks ago, I am really sick of this instalment. I have better things planned for the next one.

Even as the month of June came around, the 79th Class still hadn’t gotten over the school festival in Canada, which made Kiibo feel worse and worse.

“You should have been there Kii-boy! Momota-chan blew literally all his money in 10 minutes of gambling!”

“Quite a lot of the contestants from Total Drama are far nicer in real life.”

“Remember those two best friends from the show? You should have been there to try their ice cream!”

“…if you don’t mind, could you please stop talking about this?”

“Kiibo-kun’s right,” Kaede said. “Let’s just get ready for class to start.”

“Uh, where is our teacher, anyway?”

“I heard that Asakawa-sensei was in a meeting with Munakata-sensei,” Kirumi spoke up. “It will probably be a few more minutes until she arrives.”

In the meantime, it was only Kyosuke and Manami inside his office, as Juzo was back in the security guard role. Kyosuke handed Manami a phone over his desk, which the woman looked at in confusion.

“Munakata-san, you know I already have my own phone?”

“This is a separate one, only traceable by the Future Foundation.”

“But why give this to me now? I have a class to teach.”

Kyosuke sighed. “Apparently, there have been some issues in Towa City. Increased levels of violence, mirroring those from the Tragedy.”

“How long have they supposedly been going on for? Since Fukawa-san and Komaru-san left?”

“A few months. I highly doubt Fukawa and Komaru have any links to it. Furthermore, the information surrounding the attacks don’t match what those two found out. The violence those two experienced was led by the children in Towa City. This time, it’s absolutely anyone. Zero correlations.”

“So…you think it doesn’t like to SHSL Despair?”

“We’ll find out in due time. But anyway, I’ve allowed Branch 13 to figure out a way of letting the other leaders know. So give your boss a call.”

“Understood. Thank you, Munakata-san.”

Manami left the room and went into a nearby storage closet after checking the hallways. Once inside, she turned on the light and dialled a number on the phone. Two rings later, a feminine voice answered.

_“Hello?”_

“Munakata-san just gave some information. There’s rumours of disruptions in Towa City that Future Foundation are being sent out to investigate. Chances are they have few links to the SHSL Despair. But I don’t think us in Japan knowing, is going to be enough. I think we should send someone to Canada.”

_“Why?”_

“How else will Kirigiri-san and the rest of the members find out?”

_“Alright then, that makes sense, but who?”_

“Don’t worry, Ko-chan…”

_“Please, Manami, now isn’t the time for nicknames.”_

“What do you mean?” Manami was confused.

_“Anyway, I believe you already have someone waiting on standby for this job.”_

“What? Um, yes, I do. Off topic, what’s happening over there? You don’t sound the best…”

The other woman was silent for a moment. _“We’ve…lost a member.”_

“What? They’re dead?!”

_“They’ve only gone missing. But I’m fearing for the worst.”_

“I see. When I get back to you, you need to tell me everything about it. Okay?”

The other woman sighed. _“Yes, alright.”_

Manami hung up and pocketed the phone, making a mental note to get to the bottom of why they went missing. Whoever it was.

After all, even though she was her boss, their friendship came first.

 

* * *

 

Tomoko noticed Kitty glancing out of the window of their classroom, something she’d been doing for a while now. “What’s up with you today?”

“Why are those three waiting outside the school?” She was talking about Stephanie, Ryan and Gozu, none of whom were members of staff or students. Sky and Tyler were with them, but that wasn’t the abnormal part.

“Haven’t you heard?” Hina asked from behind. “Nidai never got to do “it” during the festival, so some of the athletic people who have no links to the school decided to stay here to see what it’s all about.”

“It?”

“Massages.”

“Oh. Anyway Tomoko, you doing anything over the holidays?”

“We’ve had a vacation planned out for a few months, to the south of France.”

“Back to Calanque de Maubois?”

“Actually, we’re going to a different part of the area.”

“Hey, Fukuhara-chan!” Hina butted back in before she could continue. “I meant to say before, but that friend of yours seemed like a nice person from what Shinjiro told me. What was her name? Uh, Mandy, that’s it!”

“Yeah, I think I saw her around on Wednesday.” More of the class were starting to get involved in the conversation. “Long blonde hair, white and red outfit?”

“Yeah, that’s her.”

“I talked with her in the karaoke area. She was singing something from a musical with Jen and some other girl.”

“Tomoko, I thought your only friend in Canada was…well…”

“You can say her name, you know. Who do you think she is? Voldermort?”

“Fine. Satoko. Why didn’t you tell us about her before?”

Ibuki, Kitty and Tomoko all exchanged knowing looks, which the rest of the class homed in on.

“Guys, I don’t have any high school friend called Mandy. You should know this,” Tomoko looked in Kiyotaka’s direction.

“Oh, that’s right! You didn’t get to attend high school because of your job, correct?”

“Exactly. I would have thought at least one of you could tell that was Amy.”

That drove the entire class into a stunned silence: a good majority of them were surprised that Tomoko had spent time with her, while Noah had a look that said “how did I not realise that?”.

Chisa chose that moment to enter the classroom, ignoring the looks on everyone’s faces.

“Now that the festival’s over, it’s time to return to our normal school days, so everyone take your…oh, you’re already there.”

“…”

“Hm? What’s happened in here?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's going on in Towa City? Who is "Ko-chan"? These and other questions won't be answered until a later instalment, but it'll be worth the wait. I hope.


	36. Return of the YouTube Sensation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A familiar face returns to Neo Hope's Peak with a very different attitude, there's a bit of information given about one of the new characters, and the race between the two twins comes to an end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After this chapter, there's only one left, which should definitely be up by Friday. You'll be able to tell I've rushed the ending, but I've already written out the start of the third instalment, so that should be up by Friday as well.

Not an awful lot of note happened on the lead-up to the summer. Always the usual stuff that went on around there.

Ever since the end of the festival, a number of people were staying in touch with the Japanese 79th Class – Tsumugi with Ibuki, Kaede and Sayaka, Tenko and Hina, to name a few examples. Tsumugi had even bought some of the leftover clothing from the festival through the blog Sierra had set up a while back. Other than that…nothing truly interesting.

Makes a change, doesn't it?

…

“Okay, you nearly packed everything?” Despite there being a few weeks until the four of them went on their holiday, they decided to get their packing out of the way earlier.

“T-shirts, swim trunks, underwear, speaker, reading material, my Saitama stress ball…”

“Swim trunks? So you’re actually going to get in the pool?”

Shinjiro laughed. “As if!”

“Come on, not even the shallow kids one?”

“Pffh, I’ll look like a total weirdo.”

“What are we talking about?” Ian poked his head round the door.

“I haven’t told you this, but--”

“Shinjiro has aquaphobia.”

“Huh? Then how come you have all those sessions with Hina and Sakura?”

“Okay,” Shinjiro drops what he’s holding into his suitcase. “It’s technically a phobia of being in something like a pool, in the deep end, with tons of other people. But saying I’m _crowded-deep-end-phobic_ is a bit of a mouthful. I’m fine training with Hina and Sakura because it’s just me and Hina in the pool, who’s a _professional_ swimmer.”

“Based on that, I think I can tell where it came from.”

“Honestly,” Tomoko said, “ _I_ don’t know where it all started.”

“Well, Ian shared something with us at the end of the last year, so I guess I’ll go next.” The other two listened intently. “I used to do swimming lesson when I was a kid. Eventually, I ended up being put into one of the higher ability classes, but all the kids in that one were either from an elite school, older, or just better than I was at swimming. We did backstroke and I was at the front of the line. When we got to the deep end, every single one of them swam _over the top of me_ , no breaks, completely unexpected, and bear in mind that there were like ten other people in my group.”

Tomoko and Ian were in shock. “So, you nearly _drowned_?!”

“The moment I reached the edge of the pool, I just climbed out, got changed and left. My parents…uh, guardians, complained. I haven’t swum in the deep end of a public pool ever since then.”

“…”

“…then the holiday will be fun.”

All of a sudden, Ian’s ElectroID vibrated, attracting the attention of all three of them. A message from Sayaka had come up on it.

[Sayaka]: _Ian why didn’t you tell anyone?_

They all exchanged a confused look, prompting Ian to type out a response. Halfway through, however, there was a knock at the door.

“I’m on it,” Tomoko ran down the stairs towards the door, waiting a few moments before opening it.

…

…

…

“So _that’s_ what Maizono-san meant.”

 

* * *

 

“Enoshima-san, what’s wrong? Why do we need to wait outside the school?”

“Believe me Maizono-chan,” the use of -chan made Sayaka uneasy. “You’re gonna love what happens!”

“If you say so.” Behind her, Junko was engrossed in her phone. Whether she was texting or checking the time, Sayaka didn’t know. “I’m getting kind of nervous, you know.”

“Oh, suck it up.” Junko’s phone immediately started buzzing, indicating a large number of text messages. “Ooh, she’s here~!”

“Who?”

On cue, a taxi pulled up in front of the two girls, and a very familiar woman stepped out on the side further away from the girls, heading towards the back and pulling out a small bag. It took her a while to notice them looking in her direction. “Huh? Enoshima-san? Maizono-san?”

“Tess! You’re back!” Sayaka ran forward and pulled her into a hug. “You didn’t even tell me!”

“Well, duh. It would ruin the surprise. Ugh, okay, can you stop now?”

“Ah, sorry.” Sayaka pulled back. “Do you need a hand with your bags?”

“There’s no time for that!” Junko barged in between them. “We’re all meeting up to mark the first day of summer vacation! And to celebrate your return!”

“Plus I don’t have many bags in the first place.”

“If we’re meeting up, then shouldn’t she get her things home first? And how come Ian didn’t let me know either?”

…

“Ian, Shinjiro, I’m back!”

“Yeah…that you are…”

 

* * *

 

A week had passed since Tess’ return, and the other three hadn’t seen an awful lot of her. On the rare occasion she _was_ still in the house during that week, they could tell something was very different. Arriving in a _taxi_ instead of a limo, only having two pieces of luggage when she left with four…and she was being genuinely nice to all three of them! It creeped out Tomoko and scared the two boys. Although Ian was far more terrified by it.

What with it being summer, Tess was off with friends. Ian was also out of the house, leaving Tomoko and Shinjiro in the living room, getting on with their long-abandoned anime vs manga race.

“Shinjiro, where did Ian get off to again?”

“I think Trent invited him over to his. Apparently, they want help writing a song.”

“What for?”

“The Drama Brothers are releasing another single, what with the reception they received after the festival.”

“Good for him.” Tomoko returned to her manga for a little (volume 20); with Shinjiro pausing his anime (season 2 episode 24).

“Where about are you up to?”

“Uh…those two have just been beaten. Why, same with you?”

“Yeah. Wanna watch it together?”

Tomoko moved closer towards Shinjiro’s laptop, keeping the page she was currently on. “Sure, okay. Sounds interesting. I haven’t seen any of the anime yet.”

Shinjiro grinned and pressed play again.

…

Tomoko wasn’t paying an awful lot of attention to watching the show, but was instead using the audio to visualise what it might look like. Regardless, by the time she finished the last page and the music ended, all that could be heard were the sniffles from both twins. Tomoko set her book aside before noticing…

“A-are you crying?! For real?”

“What? And you’re not? Do you have a heart of stone or something?!”

“Well I’m not crying, but it upset me. I’m just not the type of person who cries outwardly.”

“…”

“What’s up now?”

Shinjiro had a smirk on his face. “Did you pre-order the last manga?”

“…yeah?”

“And when does it come out?”

“July 4th. About two weeks away. Why…crap.” Tomoko suddenly realised what this meant for her.

In an instant, she lunged for Shinjiro’s mouse in an attempt to stop him from clicking on the final episode. “Nope, nope! Give it here!”

“Hmm, I was considering waiting until the manga arrived…but…”

Tomoko grunted under her breath.

“Who should win? The SHSL Intern, who’s never lost a challenge? Or the SHSL Anime Fanatic, who--”

He clicked on the link.

…

“Hey guys! We’re home! Huh?”

A pouty Tomoko took a swig of whatever drink she was holding before looking up at Tess.

“Is everything okay?”

“Shinjiro ruined my reputation. I can’t say I’ve _never lost a challenge_ anymore.”

“?”

“They were having an anime vs manga race all year,” Ian said. “Clearly, we now know the winner.”

“Stupid final release date.”

“Well, it wasn’t really a challenge. Just thank god this race wasn’t going to happen on holiday.” “What holiday?”

“Oh yeah, we forgot to tell you. We’ve booked a vacation to the south of France.”

…

“Great. Now do I not only have to deal with losing, but we both now have to deal with a girly-girl in the house again.”

“That’s one of the things I missed least of all.”

The rest of the evening was spent with Tess on the phone with her group, talking incessantly about the holiday, Ian keeping himself to himself for the most part, Shinjiro scanning the Internet for more Assassination Classroom related news, and Tomoko still in a huff over losing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: the final chapter with a lazy ending. IMO  
> Stay tuned for the third instalment in the TDDR series - Love Across The Universe?  
> (The ? is part of the title btw)


	37. Summer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tomoko's started her extra training, and Neo Hope's Peak get news from Future Foundation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rushed, lazy title, just go with it it's the last chapter.  
> Contains references to Pokémon GO because 2016.

On every meet-up with friends that the four of them had had so far over the summer, there was always one of them who wasn’t as sociable as the others. Why? Because of an app known as Pokémon GO. Sam and Chiaki were obviously the first people to get it, and quickly spread the word to everyone else. On one particular occasion, Ian and Hajime had bumped into each other, and it had been made clear that Hajime and Nagito were tasked with driving Chiaki around Toronto, so she could catch as many as possible. Needless to say, Hajime was getting annoyed with it.

And so was Tomoko, when she noticed which person in her house was interested in it.

“Uh, Tess? I had no idea you liked that sort of thing.”

“Lindsay was interested in it the other day, so I thought I’d give it a try.”

“But do you know anything about it…at all?”

“Nope, but I can always ask Shinjiro-kun about it later.”

" _-kun?_ When exactly did you learn how to speak Japanese?”

“It was so I could impress Sayaka.”

“Well…okay then. Enjoy…catching those Pokémon…?” Tess grinned and ran out the house to meet people, leaving Tomoko in a state of utter confusion.

_I…never imagined I’d say that to_ her _._

…

“A little wider…perfect. The wider your stance, the easier it is to shift your weight to your front leg.” As requested earlier in the year, Sakura had accepted Tomoko’s request to give her extra martial arts training, outside of the school club. “I’m afraid that’s all I can help you with for today. Just make sure to keep practicing.”

“Alright, will do. Thanks again for agreeing to this, Oogami-san.”

“It isn’t a problem at all,” Sakura smiled before picking up her sports bag and the key to the clubhouse. Waiting outside for both of them was Hina and Kiyotaka. As Hina ran off excitedly with Sakura catching up, Kiyotaka passed a bottle of water to his friend.

“Here! I understand you might already have your own, but you need to stay hydrated after exercising!”

“Thank you, Ishimaru-kun.” She put it under her arm and tied the hoodie from her tracksuit round her waist.

“If I were you, I would put that on. It isn’t good to be out in the cold after exercising.”

“Have you felt the weather recently? It’s boiling now.”

“Hmm. Good point.”

“You know, there is such a thing as caring too much, Ishimaru-kun.”

“My apologies, I just want to ensure my friend is alright!”

Tomoko smiled. “Well there’s no fault in that.” She opened the water bottle he’d given her. “Also, no offence, but how come you were waiting for me?”

“Oh, right! I was wondering if I could help you with your extra training in any way? I understand Oogami-kun is helping solely with your hand-to-hand combat abilities, but I thought if you wanted extra kendo training…never mind.”

“What?”

“I just thought…it would be more beneficial for you to practice with someone of Pekoyama-kun’s ability.”

“Never mind about that. Sure, you might not be a SHSL when it comes to kendo, but I’ve seen you practicing. Believe me, you’re still one of the best. And anyway,” Kiyotaka looked over at her, “I think I’d enjoy it more if I was practicing with a friend.”

“Then, that means…”

“I’d love to meet up for practice some time. After I get home from France.”

“Really? I’m happy to be able to help!” Beat. Then Kiyotaka started to randomly go red.

“Hmm? Is something wrong?”

“…just wondering, what kyoudai might say about all this. As well as Mioda-kun…”

To his surprise, Tomoko released quite a loud laugh. “Ishimaru-kun, you’re a great friend, but you really are something else.”

 

* * *

 

“Naegi,” a knock on the door distracted the headmaster from what he was doing. “Oogami left the keys to clubhouse.”

“Thank you, Togami-kun. Just leave them on the desk.” Byakuya did so before making a move to leave, until Makoto stopped him.

“What?”

“Asahina-san told me that Branch 13 are planning something, in order to investigate the recent attacks in Towa City.”

“Do you have any idea _what_ their plan involves?”

“Not really. But Asahina-san said that a member of Branch 13 should be coming over here to keep us informed. I don’t personally know who that member is, but they have apparently helped us out before.”

“Since we came here, you mean?”

“Yeah.” Makoto sighed, getting up from his chair and taking the keys with him. “I don’t want to believe it but…”

“You’re worrying this has links to the SHSL Despair, aren’t you Naegi?”

The headmaster just nodded. “Even though according to the investigations conducted so far, there were zero signs of Despair activity. No Monokumas, nothing. They described it as a largescale riot that went out of control.”

“Does Kirigiri know about it yet?”

“Well Asahina-san was the one who told me, so no doubt she went on to tell her.”

Once the two men were outside, they went their separate ways, and before Byakuya could stop himself, he was on his phone searching for a certain someone’s number.

…

Chris’ phone vibrating on the table disrupted his game of poker with Chef.

“Byakuya? What does he want?” Chris shrugged as he answered. “McLean here…nope, you’re not really interrupting anything…” Chris rolled his eyes at that one. “What? What’s that supposed to mean? Possible intervention from Future Foundation?” As the conversation continued, Chef just busied himself with stealing a look at Chris’ cards. “But it doesn’t make any sense…no, if they’re all here, then how the hell could they possibly…ugh, forget it.”

The host hung up and sat back down, before turning to Chef. “ _Apparently_ , Future Foundation could be sending a load of members down here to investigate what the kids are up to.”

“Why? There haven’t been any kind of problems, have there?”

“There’s been some kind of attack in that Towa City place. The one where Toko and that Komaru girl were for a while. There are suspicions that those despair-worshippers are behind it, but so far, no leads.”

“But we already have a ton of members here! In that sorry excuse of a town, as teachers, even within the student body! Why would we need more?”

“Beats me. But one person is coming over to feed information between Future Foundation and us.”

“Great…so how exactly is this gonna affect us two?”

Chris just sighed. “We’ll just have to find out whenever they arrive.”

“Then I don’t care enough to keep having this conversation.”

With that, the two men went back to their game, Chris being unable to stop worrying about this new information, and the only thing on Chef’s mind being the five cards Chris had in his possession.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this pile of crap is finally done! There's no promises that the next instalment will be any better written, but there WILL be some semblance of a story behind it.  
> Next time: why is Tess so much more different and sociable? What more will Future Foundation have to deal with? And what exactly will happen in the teens' junior year? The third part of the TDDR series - _"Love Across the Universe?"_ \- should be on AO3 by the end of the week.  
>  Big thanks to anyone who saw this one through to the very end, and I'll see you in a few days!

**Author's Note:**

> As before, this fanfic will have a pretty weak start (as in the first three or four chapters), however I've planed out most of it in advance this time.


End file.
